The Art of Being Us
by youaremyglee
Summary: Brittany and Santana are ready to start building their lives together, but when Brittany's ex-fiancé Sam shows up, things get a bit complicated. Will their promises to each other be able to stand the tests fate has to offer? AU Brittana. Sequel to See You Later.
1. Deja vu

**AN: This is a sequel to my other fic _See You Later _so it will probably have some references back to that story (I recommend you read it first if you haven't) but I'm hoping that this one will be able to stand on its own if you don't read the first one.**

**I hadn't planned to write the sequel this soon but I was in a writing mood so this is what happened! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Santana set her bags on the floor and turned to face her girlfriend. She held out her hands and her girlfriend took both of them, pulling herself close. The smile on her face wasn't forced, but it wasn't quite genuine. There was worry laced in her eyes.

"I'll be home for Christmas Britt-Britt." Santana assured her. Brittany's smile disappeared and her eyes filled with fear. Santana matched her expression. "What's wrong?"

Brittany shook her head. "Nothing, deja vu."

Santana frowned. "Britt I-"

"You know," Brittany cut her off, "you're more likely to get into a car accident than you are a plane crash." She paused and furrowed her brow. "So I guess that means I'm in more danger than you are." She gestured towards the front entrance that lead to the parking lot where she left the car.

"I'll call you as soon as I land. I promise." She kissed Brittany softly. "And when I get into the cab." Another kiss. "And when I get to the hotel." Another kiss. "And when I settle into my room." One last kiss.

Brittany finally smiled as their lips touched. "That's a lot of phone calls."

"I'll call you a million times if that's what it takes for you to stop worrying."

Brittany stared into Santana's rich brown eyes and sighed. "I'm so in love with you."

"And I'm so in love with you B."

"I wish I could go with you." Brittany whined.

"I do too but you need to stay home. One of us needs to keep a steady job." Santana looked down at their hands. "For the both of us." She added quietly.

Brittany looked down at the necklace hanging around Santana's neck; an infinity heart. When Santana had asked the diner for the time off to go to Los Angeles to record for her album deal, they told her she couldn't have it. After a lot of convincing from Brittany, she quit and decided to take a chance. However, following her dream seemed to make her feel guilty. The infinity heart they both wore was a promise. It was a promise to love each other forever, through everything.

Brittany used her finger to tilt Santana's head back up. She smiled down at her girlfriend. "You're right, I worry too much. Everything will be ok." She picked up one of Santana's bags and handed it to the brunette. "And you only have to call me nine-hundred-ninety-nine-thousand, eight-hundred and seventy-five times." She smirked at Santana. "Not a million."

Santana laughed. "I'll try to remember that." She picked up her other bag. "See you later Britt."

Brittany nodded. "See you later San."

* * *

That was two weeks ago.

Brittany sat in the living room, watching TV, with her laptop sitting on the table in front of her. She was waiting patiently, well as patiently as she could, for Santana to call her on Skype. They had talked the previous night but after a long day of work Brittany wanted nothing more than to hear her girlfriend's voice and see her beautiful smile. She heard the front door swing open and looked over to see Quinn walking in.

"Um Quinn, this isn't your apartment anymore. Usually people knock." Quinn rolled her eyes and walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her. Brittany stared at the door, clearly confused, until she heard a knock. She chuckled softly to herself. "Come in."

Quinn walked in. "Better?"

"Much." Brittany beamed at her friend. As much as she teased Quinn about not knowing how to have fun, she had to admit that the woman had a sense of humour sometimes.

Quinn sat down and looked at the TV where _Adventure Time _was playing. "Wow... And you say I don't know how to have fun." Brittany glanced at the other blonde. "You can't just sit around and wait for Santana to call."

Brittany gestured around her. "I believe I can."

"Britt it's 6 o'clock for us which means it's what, 3 o'clock for her?" Brittany nodded. "She's working and she won't be done for hours. So how about you come out for dinner with Rachel and I?"

"Oh I see." Brittany smirked at her friend. "You just don't want to go out for dinner with Rachel alone."

"No." Quinn denied, but her tone sounded unsure. "Maybe..." Brittany laughed. "Don't judge me for this! Rachel's great but she talks a lot and sometimes I don't know what to say. It's easier when Kurt's there because they talk to each other but he's always with his boyfriend now."

Brittany turned the TV off, stood up and smoothed her shirt out. "Fine, I'll go out for dinner with you."

Quinn stood up and followed Brittany to the front door. "Thank you."

"But just so you know," Brittany looked over her shoulder at her friend, "I'm totally judging you."

Quinn shook her head and followed Brittany out of the apartment.

* * *

Brittany and Quinn walked over to the table that Rachel was waiting at.

"Why do we always come here?" Quinn asked as she took a seat beside Rachel.

"Because I get an employee discount." Rachel responded.

Brittany looked up at her with wide eyes. "Wait, do we get a discount too?"

"Well... No." The brunette replied quietly.

"I see..." Brittany sighed and started looking through the menu.

Quinn smirked at the interaction. Brittany was fantastic with people in more than one way. She knew how to get them talking, how to coax them into opening up, but she could also shut them up just as easily. This was a tactic she seemed to use on Rachel a fair bit. There were very few people who could render Rachel Berry speechless and Brittany was one of them.

Rachel composed herself and looked up at Brittany. "So, how's Santana liking it in LA?"

"She loves it." Brittany smiled at the topic of her girlfriend. "She's having a lot of fun recording and writing music. Plus the weather there suits her better."

"It sounds perfect for her."

"Yup." Brittany agreed half half-heartedly.

Quinn glanced at Brittany. "Well almost." She added and Brittany looked up at her. "I'm sure she would much rather be here with you, B."

"Of course!" Rachel quickly agreed. "The one time I've talked to her since she left, all she told me was that she missed you. Which is why I have to ask you how she's liking it, since she won't tell me."

"She told you she misses me?" Brittany questioned. It didn't surprise her that her girlfriend missed her since they told each other that almost every day. What surprised Brittany is that Santana would admit that to Rachel.

"Sort of. I called her and asked how it was in LA and she told me it was busy. So I asked her if she missed me and she laughed and said the only person she was missing was you." Rachel leaned in and lowered her voice. "I think she secretly misses me."

Brittany mimicked Rachel's actions and nodded slowly in agreement. "Totally."

Rachel smiled and sat up straight, clearly unaware that Brittany had been mocking her. Quinn laughed. "I love you two." Her friends smiled at her and she cleared her throat, turning to Rachel. "I'm sure some part of Santana misses you even if she won't admit it."

* * *

"You didn't have to walk me home you know." Brittany pointed out as her and Quinn turned onto her street.

"I know, but we don't hangout enough. You're my best friend Britt, I miss spending time with you."

Brittany wrapped her arm around Quinn's shoulders. "Aw, I miss you too Q." She said in an overly cute voice. Quinn laughed at her friends silliness and Brittany smiled as she removed her arm from Quinn's shoulders. "It's nice to hear you laugh so much."

Quinn shut her mouth tight to stop herself from laughing. "What do you mean?"

Brittany shrugged. "You just seem happier now."

"That's because I am happier." Quinn told her friend. "I'm happier because I have new friends like Rachel, Kurt and Santana, but mostly because my best friend is finally happy too." She nudged Brittany lightly. "Being so immensely in love looks amazing on you Britt. I'm so proud of you."

They stopped at the stairs to Brittany's apartment and turned to face each other. "Thanks Quinn." The shorter blonde shrugged. "No I mean it. Thank you for always being here and for always being honest and calling me out when I do something stupid."

Quinn shook her head. "You don't do stupid things Brittany, you never have. You just always think of everyone else and never do what's best for you."

Brittany laughed. "Oh so when I almost broke Santana's heart I was doing it for her?"

"Yes actually. Well, you thought you were doing the right thing for her at the time. Luckily you came to your senses." Quinn pulled Brittany into a soft hug. "Stop beating yourself up over it. It's in the past, and now you can focus on your future."

* * *

Brittany opened her eyes. Apparently she had fallen asleep waiting for Santana's call, but the sound of her cell phone woke her up. She turned the screen on, noticing it was just past 1 AM, before opening the text she had received from Santana. In it Santana apologized for being so late and said she would talk to her tomorrow. Brittany was having none of that. She quickly opened her laptop and called Santana on Skype.

It only took a minute before Santana answered. Brittany smiled at the sight of her girlfriend. "Hey babe."

"Hey Britt. I'm sorry that it's so late. Mercedes wanted me to go out with her and a couple other people and I just got home."

"It's fine San. I'm just glad we get to talk." Santana smiled at her. "I miss you." She told the brunette as she fought through a yawn.

"I miss you too." Santana frowned. "You're tired. You should sleep."

Brittany shook her head. "I have much more important things to do. Like..." She stood up and held her finger out to tell Santana she would be right back. She returned with a calendar in her hands and held it up to the camera.

"A calendar?"

"Yes but what's on it."

Santana studied the calendar as best as she could with the less than great video quality. She knew how Brittany organized her calendar; she colour coded it. Blue were days she was working, there were a lot of those since Brittany had picked up more classes for the money. Yellow were competitions. Pink were days she had off. Then she noticed a red day. "What's the red, B?"

"An awards dinner." She lowered the calendar to reveal her smile. Santana looked confused. "I'm being presented an award by the owner of the dance company. Something about 'teaching excellence'."

"That's amazing Britt!" Santana was obviously excited and proud which made Brittany blush.

"Apparently my classes have the highest rate of new members and the highest percentage of students that stay for more than a year."

"I'm so proud of you babe." Santana's voice was low and sincere and it made Brittany tear up a bit.

"The best part is that it comes with a bonus. So, I was thinking I could use it to come visit you." Santana looked unsure, but this is what Brittany wanted the money to go towards and she wasn't willing to give up. "You could show me Los Angeles and the studio. We could go to the beach and even spend time alone in the hotel room." She waggled her eyebrows at her girlfriend.

Santana laughed; that did sound pretty amazing. "Would they give you the time off?"

Brittany nodded. "Of course, I have vacation days." Santana still didn't look convinced. "Do you not want me to visit?"

"No! Britt come on, don't be silly. Of course I do. We could just use the money that's all." Santana looked down at what Brittany assumed were her hands fidgeting with something.

"Your record deal is going to work out Santana." The brunette looked back up at Brittany. "And, even if for some crazy reason it doesn't, you and I will be fine. No, we will be better than fine. We'll be awesome because we're us."

Santana couldn't fight the smile that was making its way to her face. "Fine, let's do it."

"Yes!" Brittany cheered and kissed her fingers and pressed them to the camera. "I love you."

Santana returned the gesture. "I love you too. Now go get some sleep."

"Goodnight San, see you later."

"Goodnight Britt."

Brittany closed her laptop and stood up. She was on her way down the hall when she heard a knock at the door. She looked towards the door. She must be hearing things, nobody would be knocking at her door this late. She heard another knock, someone was definitely there, so she walked towards the door.

She started opening it. "Don't you know what time-" She cut herself off when she saw who was standing in front of her.

"Brittany?" He looked just as confused as her.

She looked around frantically. This couldn't be possible. She was going crazy, that was the only explanation. She had finally lost it and she would end up in a straight jacket in no time. The hallway started to spin and her vision started to narrow. Everything went black.

He couldn't be back; Sam couldn't be back

* * *

**Another AN: Sorry to those of you that didn't want Sam to come back but it had to happen. However, I will let you know that the focus of this story is on Santana and Brittany's lives together... that is all!**


	2. Something Special

**AN: I was worried I wouldn't be able to update any time soon but luckily we're snowed in so I had plenty of time to write today!**

**Brittany might not respond the way you're expecting... or maybe she will? Either way, I hope you enjoy!**

**Thank you to the guest that pointed out that I forgot to explain where Sam had been for 3 years! The chapter has been updated with a bit more info on that situation.**

* * *

"Brittany?"

Brittany opened her eyes to see Santana staring down at her. She looked around and realized she was outside, laying in the middle of the park, surrounded by green grass and blue skies. The sun was shining down on them in a way that seemed to make Santana glow. She smiled up at her girlfriend who returned the smile and offered her hand to the blonde.

Santana pulled Brittany up and by the time she reached her feet, the sun had disappeared. Everything was darker and Santana was holding an umbrella over them. Santana brought her infinity heart pendant to her lips with her free hand and kissed it gently. Then she dropped the umbrella, allowing the rain to soak them. She looked straight up and Brittany followed her gaze to see the night sky filled with the brightest stars she had ever seen.

She closed her eyes and felt the rain wash over her. Over _them. _

"Brittany?" That wasn't Santana's voice.

The blonde opened her eyes again and was not met with the beautiful brown eyes she was hoping for. She quickly scurried away from Sam and to her feet. "No, no, no this can't be happening."

"What are you talking about?" He took a step closer to her but she backed away.

She shook her head. "Not again." She said under her breath as she turned and started frantically looking around the apartment for something.

"Again?" Sam questioned as he followed her around the room.

She stopped and turned around, staring at him for a few seconds as if trying to come to some sort of conclusion. "You're dead."

Well, there was the conclusion. "Britt I'm right here, I'm not dead." She didn't respond and instead just kept searching the apartment. "What are you looking for?"

"My phone." She answered quickly and let out a loud sigh. She stopped running around the apartment just long enough to come up with a new plan. "Come with me." She told Sam as she grabbed her bag from the table and headed towards the front door.

* * *

Luckily Quinn and Rachel's apartment was a short cab ride away.

"Will you at least tell me where we are?" Sam asked as he patiently waited for the mystery person to answer the door.

Brittany however, was not so patient. She knocked loudly on the door for the fifth time. "Quinn come on please, I need you."

Sam's eyes widened at this news. "This is Quinn's place?"

They heard the door unlock and Quinn opened it slowly. "Britt what the hell? It's the middle of the night."

"This is important." Brittany responded quietly, getting Quinn's attention.

Quinn opened the door wider and finally noticed the man standing beside Brittany. "Oh my God." She barely choked out.

Brittany watched as her friend started to cry. She watched as Quinn threw herself into Sam's arms. She watched as Quinn's fingers grabbed onto his shirt like she would never let go again. As she watched Quinn fall apart in his arms she realized that Sam's disappearance hadn't only affected her. Quinn had been friends with Sam for years, but she never got the chance to deal with losing him because she was so busy taking care of Brittany. Now he was back. This wasn't in her head. Sam really was back.

* * *

Before meeting Santana, Brittany had thought many times what it would be like if Sam had come back. She always thought it would go one of two ways. The first, they became overwhelmed with emotion and live happily ever after, or the second, he had completely changed and there was no happy ending. No matter which way she thought about it she had never imagined it would be so awkward.

The three had been sitting in Quinn's living room for a while now. Brittany hadn't said much but Quinn was more than willing to speak for them. She had told him about their new living arrangements and caught him up on everything that's changed. Well, almost everything.

"I expected to see Quinn when I knocked on your door. I went to our old apartment but clearly you don't live there anymore." Sam explained. "So you live alone?" His question was directed towards Brittany. She shook her head. "Oh, with a roommate?" He sounded hopeful. She paused and looked at Quinn, who was avoiding eye contact, then shook her head again. "Oh." His face fell but he tried to hide the disappointment and pain by looking around the room. "This apartments nice."

Quinn sighed; she couldn't take the tension anymore. "Yeah, look. This isn't going to get any better tonight and it's really late. Sam, you can crash here if you need to. Britt," she turned to her friend and lowered her voice a bit, "you need to go home."

Brittany nodded. She definitely wanted to go home. It was hard situations like this that made Brittany thankful for Quinn's assertiveness and ability to take charge. She looked at Sam but still had no words. She stood up and started walking towards the door but felt as though she had to say something, anything. "Bye Sam."

He turned around in his seat to look at her, flashing a small smile. "See you later Britt."

With those words Brittany's heart started pounding. "Britt?" She looked over at Quinn who was watching her strangely. She must have been able to hear Brittany's heart slamming against her rib cage because, at that moment, it was all Brittany could hear. "Are you okay?"

Brittany forced a smile and nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow." She turned around and left the apartment before Quinn could ask her anymore questions about her odd behaviour. However, as she walked outside she couldn't help but ask herself some questions. Why hadn't she said more than three words to Sam? Why hadn't she hugged him? But mostly, why wasn't she happy to see him?

* * *

Brittany sat on the fire escape watching the sun slowly rise above the buildings. She hadn't slept the night before. She couldn't have even if she wanted to. When she got home she was worried her night would be plagued with thoughts of Sam's return but, to her surprise, there was only one person on her mind; Santana. She now held her phone tightly in her hand and tried to will herself to call her girlfriend. It wasn't working.

"It's too early anyway. She'll still be asleep." She looked down beside her at Lord Tubbington, who was still asleep as well. She sighed and picked him up, carefully putting him back through the window and safely into the apartment. She followed him in and noticed it hadn't taken long for him to find a comfortable spot on the couch. She wished she could adjust so easily to change.

She went to get ready, hoping that if she pretended like it was a normal day then maybe it would be. As she was about to pull her shirt over her head she heard a knock at the door. She froze. "Please don't be who I think it is." She pleaded to nobody in particular. She heard another knock, quickly finished putting her shirt on and walked into the living room. "Tubbs get the door for mommy." The cat didn't move, so Brittany sighed and unlocked the door, opening it slowly.

"Hey Brittany." Quinn greeted as the door opened.

Brittany let out a sigh of relief. "Hey Q." She opened the door more and walked towards the kitchen table, allowing Quinn to follow her. "I was worried it was… well you know."

"That's what I want to talk to you about actually." Quinn took a seat at the table across from Brittany. "Have you talked to Santana?" Brittany shook her head slowly. "You probably should."

Brittany rested her elbows on the table and put her head in her hands. "I don't know what to say." She admitted.

"How about, '_hey San, so remember my ex fiancé that disappeared? Yeah, he's back' _or something like that._" _Quinn offered with a smile.

Brittany knew her friend was trying to make light of the situation for her benefit but it wasn't helping. "That would go over great." She responded sarcastically.

"Why wouldn't it?"

"You know Santana." Brittany sighed.

"Yes I do." Quinn grabbed Brittany's wrist to try and get her friends attention. Brittany looked at her. "I also know you, and I know that what you have with Santana is something you don't see every day. Sam coming back shouldn't change that Britt. But you can't keep anything from either of them." Quinn stood up. "Which is why you're spending the day with Sam."

Brittany's eyes went wide. "What? No!"

"Yup." Quinn stated as if Brittany didn't have a choice. "Sam needs to know about Santana just as much as Santana needs to know about him, and you're the one that has to explain it all."

Brittany couldn't argue with that. She knew she had to explain everything eventually, but she was just hoping to delay it longer. "Fine." She agreed reluctantly.

Quinn smiled at her friend sweetly. "Great, he'll be over soon so maybe get changed?"

Brittany looked down at the clothes she had on, the same stuff she had been wearing last night. "Good idea."

* * *

Sam took a deep breath. "You can do this. No matter what she tells you, everything will be fine." He told himself before knocking on the door.

The door swung open a little too quickly and Brittany stumbled backwards. "Sorry. I mean hi."

"Hey." He smiled at her and waited for her to invite him in. He did have to wait for that right? This wasn't his apartment.

Instead of letting him in, Brittany started putting her shoes on. "We're going out."

"Oh."

She paused in the middle of closing the door. "Like not _going out _just not staying here."

"I get it." He assured her.

"Right." She nodded and then reached into her pocket. "Before we go, I want to get this out of the way." She held her hand out and he copied her. She took a deep breath, this had to happen at some point. She reached over and dropped something into his hand.

Sam looked down at his palm to see his wedding band. "Thanks." His voice was quiet and small.

"Let's go." Brittany quickly started down the stairs and Sam followed slowly behind.

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Sam whispered to Brittany.

"You don't have to whisper, they can't hear us over the music." She gestured in front of them to a group of students that were practicing the routine their teacher had given them. "I used to teach a lot of these students."

Sam looked at the teenagers in front of them. "They're really good."

"They worked hard to get here. To get what they want."

He looked back to the blonde beside him, she had tears in her eyes. "What's his name?"

She let out a small laugh. "Her name's Santana."

He nodded and squeezed the ring in his hand tighter. "What's she like?"

"She's amazing." The thought of Santana made Brittany smile.

"She makes you happy." It wasn't a question but Brittany nodded anyway. "So this," Sam held the ring out in front of them, "is your way of telling me that there's no chance for us?"

Brittany licked her lips, her mouth had suddenly gone dry. "Sam I was going to marry you. If I said that you don't mean something to me I would be lying."

Sam wanted to smile but the tone of Brittany's voice made him think there was more to what she was saying. "But...?"

"But... It's been almost three years since your deployment over seas. When you didn't come back I was heart broken and, for two years, I had no clue how to fix everything. Eventually I convinced myself you were dead." Brittany couldn't help but smile at her next thought. "Then I met Santana and she picked up all the pieces and put them back together with awesome, bright, pink coloured duct tape."

"Duct tape does fix everything."

Brittany put her hand over Sam's. "I'm sorry all of this happened. What you and I had was great, and I'll never regret the time I spent with you, but what I have with Santana... It's something completely different. It's something special. You'll find that with someone Sam, you're a great guy. That someone... Just isn't me."

Brittany watched as tears started to roll down his face and she couldn't help but feel bad. She wasn't crying. Why wasn't she crying?

He turned his hand upwards, flipped their hands so his was on top and dropped the ring into her palm. Brittany looked up from their hands to see Sam staring right at her. "What you and I had _was _special Brittany." He stood up and started walking towards the exit.

Brittany watched as Sam made his way through the seats and out the door. She looked down at the ring in her hand. "Shit."


	3. Just Friends

**AN: Anyone else excited for Friday? I know I am!**

**Thank you for all the alerts guys, they mean so much! I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Brittany walked into her apartment and collapsed on the couch. She pulled out her phone and realized she hadn't checked it all day. She unlocked the phone to see she had three new messages from Santana and two missed calls. The first message had asked if she wanted to talk on Skype, the others were asking where she was. She quickly opened her laptop and called Santana on Skype.

As she waited for Santana to answer she looked down at the ring that was still in her hand. "Hey Britt!"

She looked up and gave her girlfriend a small smile. "Hey San."

"How's your day going?"

Brittany shook her head. "I really missed you today."

Santana laughed. "The day's only half over B." Santana studied her girlfriends tired, sad eyes. Something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

Brittany sat still for a few moments, staring down at the gold band in her hand. Eventually she saw a tear fall onto her palm, and then another. "Everything." She choked out, but didn't look up at Santana.

"Britt, babe, please talk to me. Tell me what's going on." Santana pleaded. Brittany held the ring up so Santana could see it. Suddenly Santana seemed more confused than concerned. "Is that Sam's wedding band?" Brittany nodded. "Why do you have that out?" Santana felt her heart rate start to quicken. That ring was never a good omen.

"He's back." Brittany answered simply.

Santana sat back a bit and studied Brittany again. "Britt have you been taking your-"

"No, I mean yes. Santana he's really back. He's staying with Quinn."

The brunette watched her girlfriend crumble before her. She wanted nothing more than to wrap Brittany in her arms and hold her until everything was ok, but she couldn't. She wasn't even sure Brittany would want that. Sam was back. What did that mean for them? She took in a shaky breath and tried to hold in her tears. "I love you Britt."

Brittany finally looked up at Santana. The brunette looked scared. "I love you too Santana. More than I've ever loved anyone." Santana seemed to relax. "I told him that. I gave him this ring and I told him that what you and I have is special. Then he told me what him and I had was special and gave the ring back to me and just walked away."

Brittany started to cry harder after she finished her story and Santana realized she wasn't crying because she was confused. She was crying because Sam was making her feel guilty. Suddenly Santana felt anger building up inside her. Brittany had broken because of him once before and Santana was not about to sit by and watch it happen again. "Change of plans B." Brittany gave her girlfriend a curious look. "I'm going to come home to visit."

"Santana you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do." Brittany nodded in defeat and Santana felt her heart ache at how easily the blonde had given up. "I'll get the next flight I can, after I talk to Mercedes."

"What will she say about it?"

"That's not really my biggest concern right now Britt."

"I really wanted to see Los Angeles." Brittany told her, through sniffles.

Santana smiled at Brittany's ability to be adorable even while she looked so broken and tired. "We'll figure it out. You'll get to see LA, I promise."

* * *

Brittany had no idea how long she had been laying on the couch, but it had gotten dark. She heard a knock at the door and threw her arm over her eyes. Maybe they would go away if she didn't answer. She heard the door swing open. "Brittany?" No such luck.

"What do you want Quinn?" She asked without moving from her spot on the couch.

Quinn sat across from her. "You look like hell."

Brittany turned her head slightly to look at her friend. She expected to be met with a judgemental stare, but instead she found herself looking into concerned eyes. "I just have a headache."

"Well, it doesn't take a genius to realize you didn't sleep last night." Quinn stated, and waited for Brittany's nod of confirmation. "When's the last time you ate?" Brittany shrugged. She honestly couldn't remember. The next thing she knew, Quinn was standing up and heading towards the kitchen.

Brittany followed Quinn into the kitchen and watched as her friend put together a couple sandwiches. "I talked to Santana."

Quinn looked over her shoulder quickly. "What did she say?"

"She's coming home." Quinn nodded. She figured Santana wouldn't stay on the other side of the country while this happened. "I think she was scared I was going to leave her or something."

Quinn placed a sandwich in front of Brittany and sat beside her. "Sam told me what happened today between you two." Brittany looked down at the sandwich, she didn't feel much like eating. "You did the right thing you know."

"Then why do I feel so bad?"

"Because he's hurting, but he'll get over it."

"Can you imagine spending three years just begging that you could get home to your fiancé only to find out that, when you do eventually get home, she's with someone else?"

"You didn't ask for this Brittany. You can't help how you feel about Santana." Quinn pushed the plate a bit closer to her friend, trying to coax her into eating.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Brittany asked. "Like, when he was over there?"

Quinn sat up straight. "Yes."

"What happened?"

Quinn sighed. "That's something you should talk to him about, not me." She pointed to the food in front of Brittany. "Please eat something." Brittany picked up part of a sandwich and started eating. Quinn smiled at her. "Thank you. Then afterwards, you really need to sleep."

Brittany watched her friend start to clean up the kitchen. Quinn was good at taking care of people. She had taken care of Brittany after Sam disappeared and she was taking care of her now that he was back. "Thank you Quinn. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Quinn smirked at her friend. "Starve, probably."

* * *

Brittany woke up to the sound of voices ringing through her apartment. One of them she knew had to be Quinn since she had stayed the night. The second one she couldn't quite make out. She got up and walked to the front room. There she saw Quinn and Rachel sitting on the floor playing cards.

"You're definitely cheating!" Rachel accused.

Quinn laughed. "I am not, stop being such a sore loser."

"I just don't like losing to cheaters." Rachel joked.

"You suck at cards." Quinn threw her hand down on the table in between them. "This just isn't your strength, you're much better at other things."

"Like what sort of things Quinn?" Brittany asked from her spot against the doorframe, where she had been watching them.

Both women were startled to see her. Quinn rolled her eyes at Brittany. "Like singing." She turned back to Rachel and started to clean up the cards. "There's pancakes if you want some." She told Brittany.

Brittany decided to skip the pancakes and took a seat beside Rachel. As soon as she sat down Rachel flung her arms around her, engulfing her in a tight hug. "Good morning Brittany."

Brittany didn't hesitate to hug her friend back. "Good morning Rach."

Quinn waited for them to stop hugging before asking, "when does Santana get home?"

"I'm not sure. She said she would get the next flight she could. Let me get my phone and see if she texted me or something." Brittany stood up and went back to her bedroom where she found her phone sitting on the bedside table. She had no messages from Santana but she did have a message from a number she didn't recognize.

_'Hey Britt, I was hoping we could go out again. As friends. Let me know. -Sam'_

Brittany made her way back out to her friends. "Did one of you give Sam my number?"

"I did." Rachel admitted. "He asked and it seems like he kind of wants to work things out."

"I don't want to work things out with him."

"Not like that, like as friends."

Brittany thought about it for a second. What would Santana think about her being friends with Sam? She looked down at her phone and started typing a reply. Santana would understand.

* * *

Brittany sat on a bench in Central Park waiting for Sam. Her phone went off and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text from Santana saying she would be home tonight. Brittany smiled as she replied.

_'K see u soon. Love ya'_

Sam stood close by watching Brittany smile into her phone. He had a good guess who she was talking to. As soon as she put her phone away he walked the few feet towards her. "Hey Britt."

She looked up at him. "Hey."

He sat down beside her. "So, why the park?"

"Why not?"

"There just isn't much to do here, that's all."

"We don't always need something to do. We can enjoy what's around us and just talk."

"Ok." He leaned back and looked over at her. She hadn't really changed over the years. He could still see the innocent curiosity that made her so intriguing. "What do you want to talk about?"

Brittany stopped to really look at Sam for the first time since he returned. He was skinnier than he used to be, less built. He had a few scars on his face that weren't there before. With every new feature she noticed she got more and more afraid to ask what had happened, but his inviting smile was all the courage she needed. "What happened to you?"

It wasn't a descriptive question, and someone else may have taken it the wrong way, but he knew what she meant. "My squad and I were patrolling a small town and it got raided while we were there. Me and another guy got taken back to a prison and held with four other guys. We were all American but from different squads." He looked up to Brittany's eyes. She was listening intently. "That's it really. Eventually the area was liberated and we got to come home."

Brittany was thankful he hadn't gone into much detail. "Oh."

"Well, almost all of us got to come home." He looked down at his hands and started fiddling with the zipper on his sweater. "One night they came in and took the other guy from my squad. That's the last we saw of him. He's still MIA but… we can all guess what happened to him."

Brittany's heart started to race. Six guys were held captive, Sam was one of them. "It could've been you." She practically whispered.

"I wish it had."

She was sure her heart stopped beating completely now. "Sam." Her tone was pleading.

"He had a wife and 2 kids. If I had known that I had nothing to come back to…" He let his sentence trail off as he looked up and watched some kids run by them. Brittany felt the crushing weight of his words.

"Sam." She pleaded again; she didn't know what to say but she wanted him to stop.

"The whole time I was there we rarely saw sunlight. They barely fed us and we were all crammed into a small cell together but we weren't even allowed to talk. At first some guys tried fighting back any time they'd open the cell but, we didn't stand a chance. Then they would punish all of us for it." Brittany blinked to try and stop her eyes from stinging but it only made the tears fall down her cheeks. "Some of the guys that were there with me will never be the same. The only thing that kept me sane was thinking about coming home to be with you." He looked back over at her. Even though her eyes were red from crying and her cheeks were stained from tears, she had never looked more beautiful to him. It had been so long. He leaned over and gently placed his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

Brittany quickly pushed him away. "I can't do this." Brittany told him.

"What, be friends with me?" He asked.

"Friends don't kiss, Sam!"

He scoffed. "Is it because you think you love her?" It wasn't a question but more of an accusation.

"I do love her, and I shouldn't have to feel bad about that. I can't choose who I love!" Brittany defended.

"I can't either!" He countered. Brittany didn't know what to say, or what to do. She just sat there and let the tears fall freely as Sam watched. "I stopped back home before I came to New York." His voice was quieter. "I visited my parents… and yours."

Brittany looked up at him. "You did?" She asked nervously.

He nodded. "As far as they knew you were single." He shrugged. "If you really loved Santana, you'd think your parents would know about her."


	4. Two Truths and a Slap

**AN: Hi guys! Tomorrow. That is all.**

**For those who don't like Sam in this story: I'm sorry! You shouldn't worry too much though because I actually really like Sam as a character and I promise I won't make him too mean. He was mean last chapter due to his emotions running high because he still loves Britt and he's losing her (or lost her already). Also, I have a happy ending planned for him (_*cough*he will find love*cough*_) so there's that to look forward to. Nonetheless, I apologize for breaking the hearts of Sam fans last chapter.**

**Lastly, I don't write smut but I will sometimes lead into it and you can fill in the blanks if you choose to. (winky face?)**

**Ok let's end this long note. Hopefully you're all well and you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"What're you working on?"

Brittany was startled awake by the sound of someone right beside her. She looked over to see Santana kneeling beside the couch, smiling at her. "San!" She practically jumped over the arm of the couch and pulled her girlfriend into a tight embrace. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Britt-Britt." Santana replied through a laugh before kissing Brittany. The kiss relaxed both of them and Brittany sighed. "But really, what were you working on before you started passing out?"

Brittany looked at the note book that had been thrown off her lap when she went to hug Santana. "I was working on new choreography."

Santana walked around to the front of the couch and motioned for Brittany to move over. Brittany complied and the brunette took her spot beside Brittany then pulled her down to rest against her. "Do you have a competition coming up?" Brittany shook her head and Santana kissed the top of it. "What were you trying to distract yourself from then?"

Brittany let out a small, insincere laugh. "I don't want to talk about that right now." She rolled over and rested her head in Santana's lap, looking up at her girlfriend. "I'm so happy you're here."

Santana smiled down at her. "I am too." She brushed a strand of hair behind the blondes ear to get a better look at her stunning blue eyes.

The feeling of Santana's fingers brushing across her skin made Brittany close her eyes and bite her lip to stop a small moan from escaping. When she felt Santana pull her hand away she opened her eyes to see her girlfriend smirking; she had noticed Brittany's attempt at hiding her desire for the Latina. _Screw it. _The blonde thought before sitting up and pulling Santana into a desperate kiss. She felt Santana's fingers start to make their way up the bottom of her shirt. "Bed." She gasped out.

"Mhm." Santana replied as they both attempted to stand up and make their way to the bedroom while not breaking contact with one another.

They made it to the bedroom, only almost falling once, and Santana pushed Brittany down onto the bed. Brittany smiled and watched Santana undress. After stripping down to just her panties and bra, she walked over to Brittany and pulled her shirt over her head. "In a hurry?" The blonde questioned with a smirk.

Santana looked down at the blonde's body and let out an excited breath. "I really missed you. All of you."

"I missed all of you too." Brittany leaned forward and kissed Santana again. "This has to be some sort of record for us."

Santana laughed as Brittany pulled her onto the bed.

* * *

Santana sighed contentedly as her head rested on Brittany's chest. She looked up at her sleeping girlfriend then glanced at the clock. Brittany had to be at work in a little over an hour. She pushed herself up slightly and pressed her lips just below Brittany's earlobe. She felt the vibration of the loving moan that came from Brittany's throat.

"Good morning." Brittany greeted without opening her eyes.

"Good mornin' beautiful." Santana replied.

"Let's stay like this forever."

"I wish we could B, but you have work in an hour." Santana sat up a bit to look at Brittany.

"Those kids are great dancers, they don't need me." Brittany frowned.

Santana smiled at how adorable her girlfriend was. "Come on." She lightly pinched Brittany's side while she got out of bed, causing Brittany to squeal. "I have things I have to do today anyway."

Brittany finally opened her eyes to see her girlfriend going through their clothes. "Like what?"

"Remember how I said I had to talk to Mercedes before coming back to New York?" Brittany nodded. "Well, she didn't want us to take any time off so she sort of came with me. She knows of a studio here we can use until I'm ready to go back to LA."

Brittany smiled at the news. "That's awesome San."

Santana threw some clothes onto the bed for Brittany. "Yup, and I'm going to see if Quinn wants to have lunch." She shrugged. "And maybe Rachel will join us or something."

Brittany narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "You totally missed Rachel." She accused.

The Latina scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I missed _you_."

"Doesn't mean you didn't miss Rach too." Brittany countered with a confident shrug.

"Fine, maybe a little." Santana confessed quietly. "Now come on, get ready for work."

Brittany stood up and walked out the door. Santana watched her leave before turning back to the dresser. She opened up the top of Brittany's jewellery box and found the ring she was looking for; Sam's wedding band.

"Dress nice for Faberry!" Brittany called from the bathroom.

Santana furrowed her brow in confusion. "Who?"

* * *

It wasn't a complete lie; Santana did plan to have lunch with Quinn and Rachel, she just had something else she had to deal with before then. She knocked on the door and waited patiently.

The door opened and Quinn gave Santana a surprised look. "Santana, what are you doing here?"

"Not quite the greeting I was hoping for."

"Right." Quinn shook her head to clear her thoughts and gave her friend a hug. "I missed you. How's LA?"

"I missed you too and it's great but, you don't really care about that right now." Quinn took a step back and looked away from the Latina. "Where is he Quinn."

Quinn hesitated but decided there was no point in making up some sort of lie. "Inside."

"I need to talk to him."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Quinn held tightly to the doorknob, just in case Santana tried to invite herself in by force.

"No, but I need to."

Quinn nodded and moved to let Santana in. Rachel and Sam were sitting at the table, pretending they weren't just listening in on the conversation. Rachel looked at Quinn with wide eyes. "What are you doing?"

Quinn shrugged. "It's going to happen at some point. Why put it off?" She waved her hand for Rachel to follow her out of the apartment. "We will be... Out there. Come get us when you're finished talking?"

Santana nodded and watched as Quinn pulled Rachel out while the smaller brunette mouthed the words '_I'm sorry' _to Sam.

Sam stood up and offered his hand to the woman. "I'm Sam."

She looked at his hand and then back up at him. "I know. Let's skip the pleasantries because we both know this isn't going to be a pleasant conversation. You and I are not going to skip out of this apartment, holding hands, to tell Queen Fabray and Berry that we're the best of friends." She paused for a minute._ Faberry_. Then she shook her head_. Focus. _"That's not how this plays out." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring, placing it on the table. "This is how it's gonna go down. You're going to pick up this ring and do whatever the hell you want with it, then you're going to call up Britt and tell her you're sorry for anything you've ever done to her and then finally, you're going to leave us the fuck alone. And don't you dare try giving that ring back to me or Britt. She doesn't want it; _we _don't want it."

Sam glanced at the ring. "Santana-"

"Nope, don't talk just listen." She interrupted. "I get that you can't help what happened. You can't help that you were gone for years; that was out of your control, and I don't hold that against you. What you can control is how you deal with everything now. You can choose not to make her feel bad, you can choose to let her move on and you can choose to let her be happy with someone else. What you're doing isn't-"

"I kissed her."

Santana froze mid-sentence. "What?"

"I kissed her but it was a mistake and she pushed me off right away. I just missed her and I let my feelings get out of control." Before he could even comprehend Santana's reaction he felt the sharp sting of a slap against his cheek. He covered his cheek and looked back at Santana; she didn't look like she regretted the slap one bit. He didn't blame her.

"You stay away from her." She told him and started walking towards the door.

"Santana wait." He ran forward and grabbed her arm. She turned around so quickly he half expected to be slapped again. When he realized she wasn't going to do anything he continued. "You're right, I need to back off. I can tell you love her because I love her too. I mean, what's not to love?" She glared at him; there had to be some sort of catch. "But I'm not convinced she loves you the same way."

Santana felt her blood boil with anger. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Have you ever met her parents, or even talked to them?" Santana's angry features softened slightly. "That's what I thought. Look, I'll back off and I won't make any sort of move, but I'm not giving up. I love her."

Without saying anything Santana turned around and walked out of the apartment, pushing past Rachel who practically had her ear pushed against the door. She didn't feel like having lunch any more.

* * *

Brittany walked into their apartment to see Santana sitting on the couch with her headphones on. She was listening to something from her laptop. The blonde smiled, it felt much better not walking into an empty apartment. She quietly walked up behind her girlfriend and covered her eyes.

Santana pulled Brittany's hands off her eyes and kissed her knuckle. "Welcome home baby."

Brittany jumped over the back of the couch and landed right beside Santana. "Thanks." She smiled at her girlfriend.

The brunette pulled her headphones off. "How was your day?"

"Boring and long because I couldn't wait to get home to you."

"Aww, how corny and adorable." Santana scooted closer to Brittany and rested her head on the blondes shoulder. "Hey Britt? I have a question."

"Ok." Brittany laced her fingers through Santana's and started caressing her hand.

"When can I meet your parents?"

Brittany's fingers stopped moving and her grip tightened. "San..."

"I know you still don't have the best relationship with them but if you're trying to work it out with them then shouldn't I be part of that?"

"Yes, you should be." Brittany agreed.

"So...?" Santana coaxed.

Brittany sighed. "You talked to Sam huh?" She felt Santana nod against her shoulder. "My parents don't know about you San."

Santana sat up and backed away slightly. "Why?"

Santana looked so hurt that it made tears come to Brittany's eyes. "Because they don't know I'm... Not straight."

"Are you serious?"

Brittany nodded. "Sam and I were high school sweethearts and they loved him. It just never came up I guess."

Santana pulled Brittany into a hug. "I know I haven't met them but, from what I've heard, they sound like pretty cool people. I'm sure they will support you babe."

Brittany nodded again. "I know, and I want you to meet them. I'm just scared."

"When I was outed and my parents found out... At first they thought it was a phase. My mom came around pretty quick and supported me but my dad took a lot longer. He didn't like it, and I think he still doesn't, but he puts that aside for my sake." Santana sighed. "He isn't even close to be in the running for 'world's best dad' so if even he can accept it then I have no doubt that your parents will love you no matter what." Santana tightened her arms around Brittany. "And even if it takes them time to process, I'll be here every second of it."

Brittany nuzzled in closer to Santana. "I love you so much San."

Santana smiled. "I know, and I love you so much too." She felt Brittany pull away so she loosened her grip, allowing her girlfriend to sit up.

"Sam and I kissed." She admitted. Santana could see the tears in Brittany's eyes, but she wasn't sure if they were from the conversation about her parents or from what she had just said. "I'm so sorry Santana. I love you so much and I don't even know what happened-"

"Britt stop." Santana interrupted. "He told me about it. He said he kissed you and you pulled away immediately."

"Well yeah but-"

"So stop. You didn't want that to happen and you stopped it as soon as it started. It's ok babe."

"Really?"

Santana grabbed Brittany's hands in hers. "Yes. I don't blame you for what happened. I blame him." She smirked. "And he already got what was coming to him."

"It'll never happen again. If I even think something like that could happen I'll back away. I promise."

Santana smiled and kissed Brittany softly. "That's all I need to hear." Sam was wrong about Brittany not loving her, he had to be.


	5. Plus One

**AN: As usual, thank you for all the notifications guys! I love you all.**

**So um... who enjoyed 6x06? (this is me appearing casual and not willing to admit how many times I watched it)**

**Ok, enjoy!**

* * *

Quinn raced up the stairs as fast as she could. The door flew open and she marched right up to Sam. His eyes widened at the look on her face. "What the hell did you do?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" He stood up so she wasn't looming over him.

"Don't play dumb with me I just got off the phone with Santana. You are so lucky that she only slapped you."

"Look Quinn-"

"Shut up!" She cut him off and he closed his lips tight. "Brittany agrees to be friends because she doesn't want to just kick you out of her life and you go and screw that up. Did you know that Santana was ok with her being friends with you? Yeah, she told me that on the phone before she mentioned that you kissed her girlfriend! Not to mention you betrayed me too! I'm letting you stay with me Sam because you're my friend and I thought I could trust you to leave them alone."

"I told Santana I would back off. The kiss was a mistake." He defended.

"Oh, so I guess telling her that Brittany doesn't love her was a mistake too then huh?" Sam looked down, away from Quinn's glare. "Yeah she told me about that too. How dare you think you can just walk back into Brittany's life and put strain on her new relationship by planting these ridiculous ideas in Santana's head."

"Hold on a sec."

"One last thing." She put her finger up to shush him. "I want you out of my apartment."

"Quinn listen to me, please. Just for a minute." He waited for her to cross her arms and nod for him to continue. "I want Brittany to be happy no matter who she's with, even if it isn't me. How am I supposed to believe she's happy with Santana if she hasn't even introduced her to her parents?" The blonde narrowed her eyes at him; she could sort of see his point. "I told Santana I would back off and I meant it. I didn't point out the parent's situation to ruin their relationship. I pointed it out because I want Britt to be happy and if she's meant to be happy with Santana then they'll work it out."

"And if they don't?"

Sam shrugged. "Then Santana isn't the one she's meant to be with."

* * *

Brittany took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt Santana's hand slide along the small of her back and her lips rest against her cheek. "You have nothing to be nervous about."

"I do though." Brittany opened her eyes and turned towards Santana. "My boss is going to be here and my boss's boss and their boss and the owner of the company. Everyone important is here tonight and I'm supposed to get up in front of them and give some speech about _teaching excellence_. I'm not good at talking and, if I'm being honest, I don't know what I'm doing as a teacher. I'm a dancer San, I don't know the first thing about teaching kids. I should've prepared for this but then everything happened with Sam. I can't give this speech, I'm too stupid."

"Woah, hey calm down." Santana held tightly onto both of Brittany's wrists and stared right into her girlfriends watery eyes. "You are not stupid, you're one of the smartest people I know. Sure, you think differently than most people but that's one of the best things about you Britt. Look at the world we live in B, it's full of judgement and hate. Two things that I'm pretty sure you're incapable of. If everyone thought just a bit more like you the world would be such a better place. You have an effect on people that I can't even describe, but your students feel it and so will everyone in there." She pointed towards the entrance to where the ceremony was being held. "I promise."

Brittany smiled at her girlfriend. "Thank you." She kissed Santana gently and sighed. "Why can't you just give the speech?"

Santana laughed. "I have a low tolerance for bratty kids. Do you know how bad of a teacher I'd be?" She tugged on Brittany's arms. "Now let's go hangout with a bunch of rich boring people."

Brittany nodded and followed her in. When they entered the room they were blown away by the sheer size of the area. The blonde was distracted by the giant chandelier that hung in the middle of the room and didn't hear when the man asked for her name. Santana pointed to her girlfriend. "Brittany S. Pierce."

The man nodded and looked at their linked arms. "I assume you're the plus one?"

Santana nodded. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

The man gave Santana a confused look before pointing to a table at the front of the room. "Your table is down there."

The women started walking towards their table and Brittany leaned over to Santana to place a kiss on her girlfriend's temple. "You're way more than a plus one to me babe."

Santana laughed. "I didn't realize your company was so huge."

"They don't only own the dance studio I work at. They run a lot of different places that all specialize in teaching the arts."

"Brittany!" Both women looked at the table in front of them to see Brittany's boss, Judy, sitting down. "You must be Santana." She stood up and offered her hand to the brunette.

"I am, and you're Judy." Santana smiled at her. Brittany had told Santana a fair bit about Judy. She was rich, classy and very conservative. Her husband owned the studio and he gave her the job of running it, but mostly she was just his trophy wife. She was a walking, talking stereotype. However, Brittany had always praised her for her kindness. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine, really." She sat down and gestured at two of the chairs. Brittany and Santana sat down at them. "Brittany has told me many great things about you." Santana smiled and ducked her head in an attempt to hide the blush. "I'm sure some day our students will be dancing to your songs."

The women engaged in easy small talk as they waited for the remaining seats to fill. Shortly after their arrival, Judy's husband showed up. Brittany had seen him a couple times before but she dealt mainly with Judy and her assistant so they had never really spoken. He was a well-built man, older than Judy but not by much. He was also nowhere near as friendly or talkative. When he finally spoke, Brittany wished he hadn't. "So, you two are gay?" He asked in a tone that made Brittany's stomach turn.

Judy stared at her husband in shock. Santana felt Brittany go stiff beside her. She gave her girlfriend's knee a quick squeeze before glaring at the man. "So, you two are straight?" She asked him in the same tone.

Before he could respond the microphone came on and a man started talking from the stage. "If I could have your attention please, we would like to get tonight's events under-way."

Brittany and Santana watched as teachers from all over were invited up to accepted their various awards. When Judy was called up Brittany's heart started pounding.

Judy stood up at the microphone and smiled down at the audience, making brief eye contact with Brittany. "I'm proud to say that this year's overall teaching excellence award has been given to an employee at my studio. This woman has been with us for a few years and every year she proves that she belongs here. She's an incredible dancer and an amazing teacher. Please join me in congratulating Brittany Pierce."

Everyone started clapping and Brittany suddenly felt as though she might throw up. She turned to see Santana smiling at her. The brunette leaned in close enough that Brittany could hear her over the crowd. "I'm so proud of you." She gave her girlfriend a kiss, providing Brittany all the courage she needed to get up on stage.

When Brittany got onto the stage Judy handed her a plaque and gave her a hug and whispered in her ear. "Just be yourself, you'll do great." Then directed her to the microphone.

Brittany looked out at the crowd and quickly decided that wasn't a good idea, so instead she read the plaque in her hands. "Teaching excellence." She read out loud then turned her head and made eye contact with Santana. "When I was little I never did well in school. All the teachers thought I was unteachable and they weren't afraid to tell my parents that. In high school I found out that it's because I'm dyslexic, and none of my teachers ever took the time to figure that out, but by then it didn't matter. When everyone's always telling you that you're stupid, eventually you start to believe it. Throughout my childhood dance was always the best way for me to escape it all. You don't have to understand words and numbers to be able to express yourself through dance. So when I graduated high school I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach." She started to smile as she thought about it. "I wanted to provide a place where the students that maybe think a little different can feel accepted, smart, special and important because they are. Teaching excellence isn't about having the highest test scores. It's about encouraging students to embrace who they are and to show them that they can accomplish whatever they put their mind to." She looked around at the crowd, and noticed they all seemed to be listening intently. "I was told I'd have to make a speech but I didn't actually plan one so, I don't know how to finish this." People started glancing at each other and Santana had to hold in a laugh. "I guess just, thank you?" The crowd started clapping and Brittany let out a sigh of relief as she made her way off the stage.

* * *

Quinn pushed the grocery cart and followed slowly behind Rachel. As usual, Rachel was talking and Quinn was trying to pay attention. Normally she could, but today she had other things on her mind.

"This is totally the best part of living with you." Rachel told Quinn as they walked down another isle. "Ok, maybe not the best thing, but it's definitely easier shopping for groceries with another vegetarian than it was with Kurt and Santana." She smiled and turned around to face Quinn. "You're quiet today."

Quinn looked up at her friend and realized she hadn't really said anything since they left the apartment. "Yeah, sorry."

Rachel shrugged and continued walking. "It's ok. What's on your mind?"

"What do you think of Sam?" Quinn asked.

Rachel suddenly stopped again and turned around, leaning across the grocery cart. "Why? Do you like..." She lowered her voice. "Have a thing for him?"

"What? No!" Quinn answered quickly.

"Good." Rachel sighed and straightened up.

"Good?" Quinn raised an eyebrow at the tiny brunette.

"Well, yeah." She started walking again and pulled the cart behind her. "You know, if you did, it would just make everything even messier than it already is."

"Right."

"To answer your question." Rachel picked up two different kinds of orange juice and held them for Quinn to see. Quinn pointed to the left one and Rachel put it in the cart. "I think Sam is a good guy. I think he's doing stupid things right now because he's emotional and hurt but I don't think he really means to hurt anyone."

"I see..." Quinn said slowly as she leaned against the cart, pushing it slowly.

"Why?"

"I told him to move out." Quinn admitted in a low voice.

Rachel nodded slowly. "It's up to you what you want to do Quinn. I will never ask you to live with someone you don't want to live with."

Quinn groaned. "I know. That's not the problem Rach."

"Well tell me the problem then Quinn." Rachel stopped walking and turned around, giving Quinn her full attention.

"I told him to move out and then he started saying all these things about wanting Britt to be happy. At first I thought he was just making excuses but, the more I think about it the more it makes sense and now I don't know what I want to do." She put her head in her hands and sighed.

Rachel walked over to Quinn and wrapped her arm around the woman's shoulders. "Sam's been your friend for years. You and Britt probably know him better than anyone else. Do you think he would intentionally hurt Brittany?" Quinn shook her head. "Then maybe give him a chance to fix what he's done. People do crazy things when they're in love."

Quinn lifted her head out of her hands. "Did you just quote _Hercules_?"

"Yes I did." Rachel answered confidently.

Quinn nodded. "Ok."

* * *

"Judy seems really nice." Santana called from the office. Since they shared a room they had turned the second bedroom into a work area for them to share. There were two desks, both of which Brittany had decorated with various toys and pictures. When Brittany didn't answer, Santana closed her laptop and walked towards their bedroom where she found Brittany staring at the plaque. She had put it on its stand on the dresser. Santana sat down beside her girlfriend. "You ok?"

Brittany turned to face Santana, crossing her legs to sit on the bed. "Judy's husband wasn't nice."

"Not really." Santana agreed and took Brittany's hand in hers.

"A lot of people aren't you know."

"I'm aware." Santana shrugged. "I've been known to be quite the bitch myself."

"No I mean, a lot of people aren't accepting." Brittany looked down at their joined hands. "Of what we are."

Santana nodded; they weren't talking about Judy's husband anymore. "It's ok to be scared Britt."

"You so easily stood up for us and you didn't even have to say much. I just… froze. I froze and I didn't even know that guy. What will happen if..." She let the sentence fade away; Santana knew what she meant.

"If your parents don't accept you, if they don't accept _us._" She corrected. "Then we will be there for each other, whether they like it or not."

"My parents were only ever proud of me by association." Brittany admitted as she fought away tears. "Sam is like a son to them and the only thing they were ever proud of me for was that I was with him."

"Are you worried they won't like me?" Santana asked quietly. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

Brittany shook her head. "No, they'll like you. I'm worried that they won't accept us and they won't want me to be with you, no matter how much they like you." She cleared her throat and held Santana's hands tightly. "I'm scared because you mean so much to me and I just really want them to be ok with that. I spent the first part of our relationship trying to get over Sam and comparing everything you did to him and you don't deserve to go through that again with my parents. You don't deserve to come in second to him because you're so much more than that." Brittany looked up at the ceiling, trying to gather her thoughts. "You're more than just my plus one Santana, you're my only one."

Santana leaned forward and kissed Brittany. "You're my only one too Britt." She stood up and picked up the plaque. "This belongs somewhere else." She left the room and Brittany followed closely behind.

"Where are you putting it?" She asked.

Santana moved a picture of her, Kurt and Rachel off of a table in the front room and placed the plaque on it. She admired it and then pointed towards the door. "I want it to be the first thing anyone sees when they walk into our home." She put the picture down on the couch and pulled Brittany close to her, wrapping her arms around her waist. "You may have grown up not knowing how it felt for someone to be proud of you, but you don't have to worry about that anymore, because I am so proud-"

Brittany cut her off with a long tender kiss. Santana closed her eyes and let herself be consumed by the passion. When she felt her girlfriend pull away she opened her eyes to see Brittany smiling. "Let's meet my parents."

* * *

**AN: Erm... Sam's explanation was not supposed to feel forced. This is how I saw his return going from the minute I started writing it. Allow me to explain (although it gets explained in the next chapter a fair bit). 1. The kiss was something he did out of impulse and yes it was terrible but he expected to come home to his fiancé. 2. He told Santana he would back off but not give up. Meaning, he wouldn't actually do anything but if they did break up he would be first in line to pick up the pieces. 3. He loves Brittany and, in his mind, he's doing the right thing for her by testing the Brittana relationship.**

**I'm sorry if this came off as me trying to salvage his character but in all honesty he was never a bad person in my mind. I apologize if you don't agree with this stuff and hopefully it isn't that big of a deal since the Sam drama isn't the focus of this ****fic, it's only the beginning.**


	6. Masterpiece

**AN: So this Friday's the wedding... deep breaths.**

**Thank you for the support everyone, much love as always! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was one of the hardest to write so far but also one of my favourites. I had planned this chapter since the beginning and her parent's reactions are very important to me. The name of the fic comes from this chapter, and the ending means a lot to me so I really hope you all like it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sam heard the soft thud of someone running up the stairs followed by the sound of the front door unlocking. He looked up and saw Quinn heading his way. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for another berating. "I'm packing up my things, I just took a quick break."

"We need to talk." She told him calmly.

"Again?" He walked to the couch and sat down. "Look Quinn, I get it ok? Just let me finish packing my stuff."

"No, you don't get it." She sat down across from him. "You really screwed up, but I've known you forever Sam and I really hope you wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt Britt."

"I wouldn't."

She nodded. "I believe you. But that doesn't change the fact that you did, and now you need to fix it."

"How am I supposed to fix it? They hate me."

"Santana probably does, yeah." She shrugged.

"You don't think Brittany does?" He asked hopefully.

"Calm down, she definitely doesn't like you. It just takes a special kind of person to make Brittany hate them." She stood up and looked down at him. "Before you and Brittany started dating you were just her friend. You've done it before; you can do it again."

He watched as she walked out of the room. "Thanks Quinn." He called after her.

"Hurt them again and you'll be looking for a new place to crash."

* * *

Sam walked into the building and looked around the lobby. He was about to walk up to the front desk when he spotted the person he was looking for. "Santana!" He called after her.

She stopped and turned around. When she saw who was calling her name she rolled her eyes and kept walking. "What do you want? And how did you find me?"

"I want to apologize and Quinn gave me the address."

She pulled out her phone. "Hold on just let me set a reminder to kick Quinn's ass next time I see her."

"Would you just let me apologize?" He followed her down a hallway with multiple recording studios.

She stopped in front of one and punched a code into the key pad then turned to him. "Apology accepted." She told him and walked in so the door would shut behind her.

Sam could tell by her tone that his apology had definitely not been accepted. He quickly slid through the door behind the woman.

She turned when she heard the sound of him struggling as his foot got caught in the door. "Get out." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"My plan was never to purposely break you two up."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Tell me you don't want her to break up with me and go back to you." She waited a few seconds for a response. When he didn't have one, she continued. "Right. Maybe you've convinced yourself that somehow you're doing the right thing but here's the cold hard truth; you're not. You're being selfish and immature and if you actually loved Brittany the way you claim to, you would stop screwing with her. Whatever your plan was, it didn't work. Britt and I are going to meet her parents this weekend. She's moved on, maybe you should too." With that she turned around and went into the recording booth.

"What was your plan?"

Sam turned to see Mercedes sitting on a couch against the wall. He hadn't noticed there was someone in the room with them. "What?"

She stood up and offered her hand to the man. "Mercedes Jones."

He shook her hand. "Sam Evans."

She smiled at him. "I know who you are. You're the one that's been messing with my girls."

He sighed and looked towards the door. He wasn't in the mood to be yelled at again, even if he was starting to agree that he did deserve it. "The one and only."

Mercedes sat back down and patted the cushion beside her. "So, what was your plan?"

It seemed as though she wasn't going to yell at him so he joined her on the couch. "I just want to make sure Brittany's happy."

Mercedes looked skeptical. "Are you sure? Because to me it seems like, not so deep down, you really want her back."

He sighed. "I thought I was doing it for the right reasons. Now I don't know, and I just want to fix it."

"If you want to fix it you should leave them alone."

"You tell me to leave them alone, Quinn tells me to go and apologize. This is why I don't know what to do!"

"I've got an idea." Mercedes leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee. "How about you listen to the opinions that really matter. Like maybe Santana's or Brittany's?"

Sam looked into the recording booth to see Santana adjusting a microphone. What did she want from him? He turned back to Mercedes. "Do you want to go for lunch?"

* * *

Santana watched Brittany slowly and carefully folded her clothes. She watched as her girlfriend neatly put them in her bag and organized them in a specific order. Santana knew Brittany was usually fairly organized to help her keep track of everything but this was taking it to a level she had never seen before. Normally when they packed to go away Brittany didn't care about everything being in order, she just wanted to make sure she had everything.

She walked over to Brittany and wrapped her arms around her waist from behind, resting her head against the blonde's back. "What are you thinking about?"

Brittany stopped folding and turned around in Santana's arms. "Everything. My parents, Sam, the fact that eventually you have to go back to LA."

"First, don't worry about LA. Second, no matter what happens with your parents it won't change us. Third, Sam tried to apologize today. Again." Santana rolled her eyes at the last part.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and once again, I sort of just told him to leave us alone." She shrugged and went back to packing.

"What did he say?"

"I didn't really give him a chance to say much." Both women continued packing. "I found out later though that he and Mercedes went out for lunch."

Brittany froze for a second but didn't look up at Santana. "Oh."

"She seems to think he's a pretty cool guy. They're going out for dinner next week." Santana watched as her girlfriend processed this new information. "It's a good thing Britt."

Brittany shrugged and looked down at her bag. "Maybe."

"No, definitely." Santana couldn't believe what she was hearing. What about this situation wasn't good?

"Mercedes is a really good person San." Brittany zipped her bag up.

Santana's brow furrowed. "I'm aware of that Britt, I work with her."

"I just hope that everything that's been going on with him isn't like, the new Sam. She deserves better than that. She deserves the old Sam. He used to be a good guy."

"I don't doubt that." Santana closed her bag and put it beside the bedroom door.

"Why not, after everything he's done?"

"Because you dated him." She walked over and picked up Brittany's bag, placing it beside hers. "I can't see you dating a bad person."

Brittany smiled and walked over to Santana. She pulled her girlfriend close and kissed her slowly and lovingly.

Santana smiled into the kiss. They parted and she looked curiously into blue eyes. "What was that for?"

"For finally agreeing that you're a good person."

* * *

"Take a left here." Brittany pointed a bit ahead of them.

They turned onto Brittany's street and Santana watched as the little, multi-coloured houses went by them. It wasn't the nicest of neighbourhoods. The houses were small, squished together and had little to no property. It was extremely different than the neighbourhood Santana had grown up in.

"Which house babe?" She asked Brittany, who was also distracted by all the houses. Santana wondered if she was thinking about the families that lived in them, since she probably grew up with most of them.

"Oh, um. That one with the small green car out front. Up there on the right." Santana slowed the car down. "Just park on the road."

After she parked the car they got out and Brittany started getting their things from the trunk. Santana took this time to study Brittany's childhood home. The house, along with all the others, was brick but with a green door. It had a tiny stair case, about two stairs, that lead up to the door. It had two floors but overall, it was a very small house. "Is there room for us?" Santana hadn't meant for it to be rude but she feared it had come off that way when Brittany stopped to look at her.

"There's room. We'll be staying in my old room." She closed the trunk. "My parent's room is downstairs and we'll be staying upstairs."

Santana nodded but then something occurred to her. "They won't think it's weird we're sharing a bed? I mean, they don't know we're dating."

"I told them it was fine for a weekend and they didn't think anything of it."

Santana nodded, picked up both their bags and started walking towards the front door. Noticing that Brittany wasn't beside her, she turned around to see the blonde standing still, staring up at the house. She put the bags down and walked back to her girlfriend. "If you aren't ready we can go home. We don't have to do this yet."

"We could go home..." Brittany nodded slowly and started to smile. "I think this is the first time I've ever walked towards this house and considered somewhere else home." She looked at Santana and smiled wider. "Let's do this."

Santana picked up the bags and followed her girlfriend to the door. Brittany knocked and the women waited patiently for an answer. Brittany looked nervous but Santana couldn't help but feel excited. Brittany had never told her much about her parents. She knew that Brittany had a somewhat hard childhood and that she had to take care of herself a lot of the time. She also knew her girlfriend didn't have the best relationship with her parents anymore. Which is part of why they were here.

The door swung open and a man stood in front of them. He looked tired and worn, but with kind blue eyes that matched Brittany's. "Baby Bee." He exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Hi daddy." Brittany walked forward and her father quickly pulled her into a tight hug. The way he held onto her made it clear he hadn't seen her in a while and that he had missed her every second. It gave Santana some hope for the outcome of this visit. Brittany backed away and gestured towards Santana. "This is Santana."

"Your friend?" He asked.

Santana looked at Brittany. The blonde had no clue how to answer this, but it was obvious she wasn't ready to tell him. "We live together." Santana answered for her girlfriend.

"Well, welcome to the family then Santana." He smiled at her and took the bags. "Come in girls. Mom's in the living room." The women followed him into the house. He placed the bags at the bottom of the stairs and turned to them. "Dinner's almost ready." Brittany looked towards what Santana assumed was the living room. Mr. Pierce nodded towards the room. "Go see her B." He squeezed her shoulder and walked into the kitchen.

Santana waited patiently for her girlfriend to take the first step. She looked around the room, it was very cluttered and far from clean. The walls were covered in pictures, most of which consisted of Brittany, Sam, Quinn and Puck.

Brittany started walking into the living room and Santana quickly followed behind. "Mom I'm here." Brittany walked around the couch and Santana watched as she kneeled down in front of the woman that was sitting down.

"Brittany!" Santana smiled at the excitement in the woman's voice. "You're here. You're never here."

"I know, it's been a while and I'm sorry." Brittany grabbed her mom's left hand and held it.

"It's in the past B. I'm just happy you're here now." Her mom leaned forward and wrapped her right arm around her daughter.

"I have someone I want you to meet." Brittany smiled and walked over to Santana, pulling her by the hand towards the couch. "This is Santana." Her mom looked at the Latina, confused. "She's the friend I told you about. We live together."

"Oh yes, Santana!" Her mom smiled, but there was something off about it. "I'm so happy you could come."

Finally Santana noticed what was different. The woman only talked and smiled with half of her face. She offered her hand to Mrs. Pierce. "Me too."

"Ok my lovely ladies, dinner is served." Mr. Pierce walked into the room. "Well it's ready, go help yourselves while I help your mother."

Santana followed Brittany into the kitchen. "Britt..."

Brittany turned around. "I know, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not warning you." Brittany grabbed two plates and started getting them some food.

"About?"

"Everything. The neighbourhood, the house..." She paused. "My mom."

Santana took a fast glance around the room before placing a gentle kiss to Brittany's cheek.

"Ok girls." Santana quickly backed away at the sound of Mr. Pierce's voice. Both women turned to see him standing in the doorway. "Mom's at the table. How about you join her."

The women nodded and walked into the other room, sitting down beside each other at the table.

Dinner had been going fairly well and Brittany silently hoped that everything would be put off until tomorrow. "So Britt." She looked over at her mother. "Where's Sam? I thought for sure you'd bring him home with you."

Brittany took a sip of water before answering. "I wanted to talk to you guys about that actually. I'm um..." She cleared her throat and looked down at her plate. This was much harder than it was supposed to be. She felt Santana's hand on her knee and smiled quickly at her girlfriend. "I'm not getting back together with him." She faced her parents again.

"You aren't?" It was her dad who spoke up.

"No."

He made some sort of quiet 'hm' noise and went back to his meal. "Why not?" Her mother asked.

"I-" Brittany began but she was quickly cut off.

"You were so happy with him. You make such a beautiful couple."

"I was happy with him but I'm happier now." Brittany told her parents. She looked to her dad for support but he avoided eye contact.

"Alone?" Her mother scoffed. "Brittany don't be silly. You two are meant to be."

"No we aren't." Brittany slammed her hands down on the table. "We were what you wanted. I'm done shaping my life around what you two want."

"Pretty sure you reached that point when you moved to New York to teach _dance._" Her father finally chimed in.

"Woah, hold on." Brittany looked beside her to see Santana glaring at her dad.

"San." Brittany warned.

"No. You can be upset all you want that she isn't going to marry the blonde haired boy next door, you'll get over that, but you need to know that what she does with those kids is amazing. She is an incredible dancer and an even better teacher. She actually helps kids. Did you know she won the award for teaching excellence? She beat out every other teacher in the whole company. You can't possibly be disappointed in that, and if you are then your priorities are clearly out of whack." Santana took a deep breath and closed her lips tight, this was not the first impression she was hoping for.

Mr. Pierce eyed the woman sitting next to his daughter. Brittany couldn't help but think back to the kitchen and wonder if he knew about them. "You're right; I shouldn't open old wounds. Britt if you don't want to be with Sam, we'll learn to live with that."

"I just don't get it." Everyone turned to face Mrs. Pierce. "You two are perfect together Brittany, why would you give that up?"

"We weren't perfect together mom."

"You'll never find someone to love you like him." Mrs. Pierce shook her head and stared down at her plate.

Brittany felt Santana shift beside her. "I already have. No, let me correct that. I found someone that loves me more than him."

Santana's eyes widened and she looked at Brittany. "Britt." She whispered harshly. She wanted Brittany to tell her parents about them but not this way. Not out of anger. She didn't want Brittany to regret any of it.

Mr. Pierce narrowed his eyes at Santana but directed his statement towards his daughter. "Go on."

"Santana and I live together because we're dating." Brittany told her parents and waited patiently for a response. When she didn't receive one she looked over at Santana who smiled weakly at her.

"You're a lesbian?" Her mom asked.

"No. Why does everyone feel the need to put a label on what I am? I just..." She sighed. "I just love Santana."

"You loved Sam."

"Maybe, I mean I definitely thought I did. I think I just loved the idea of him. I loved having someone to love me and I loved having your approval. I love Santana so much that the whole approval thing," Brittany shrugged, "just doesn't matter anymore."

Mr. Pierce hadn't pulled his eyes off of Santana the whole time. "Do you love our daughter?"

Santana looked over at him and smiled. "I love her more than anything in the world."

He nodded. "Baby Bee, what kind of parents would we be if we didn't love you no matter who you love?"

Brittany let tears run down her face as she walked over to her dad. He stood up and hugged her. "Besides, I already welcomed her into the family and I can't take that away now, that would be really awkward."

* * *

Santana watched Brittany brush her hair as she got ready for bed. Her girlfriend hadn't said much since dinner. "It could have gone worse."

Brittany put the brush down and turned to face Santana. "I guess."

Santana stood up and put her hand against a poster on the wall. "This is hot." Brittany looked at the, some-what provocative, poster of Britney Spears. "How did your parents not know?" She joked.

Brittany giggled. "I put that up when I was a kid, I loved her music."

"Oh please." Santana walked over to her girlfriend and smirked. "You still love her music."

Brittany shrugged. "Maybe a little."

Santana walked over to the dresser to see a variety of figurines and toys. It reminded her of the way Brittany decorated their apartment. "Why didn't your parents do something with this room?"

"They never come up here, so they had no reason to. I think my dad must have cleaned it though." Brittany shrugged.

Santana turned back to face Brittany. "What happened with your mom?"

"She had a stroke when I was little and her whole left side was paralyzed. She used to be in a wheelchair but now, cause of therapy and stuff, she uses a cane and my dad." Brittany sat on the bed and Santana joined her. "But she still can't go up the stairs."

"I'm sorry you had to grow up with that Britt." She put her hand on Brittany's thigh. This explained why Brittany took care of herself so much as a kid and why she spent so much time with Quinn. Maybe it could also explain Quinn's protectiveness.

Brittany smiled. "It's ok, really. I had friends, dance and..." She stood up and smiled wider at Santana. "I have something I want to show you." She started excitedly looking through drawers.

Santana laughed. "Ok, you find whatever you're looking for. I'm going to get a drink, I'll be right back. You want anything?" Brittany shook her head and looked towards Santana. "Ok, see you later." Santana winked, causing Brittany to roll her eyes.

Santana was heading down the stairs when she heard a voice. "What do you think of Santana?" It was Mrs. Pierce's voice.

"I like her. She's got a lot of..." Mr. Pierce hummed, trying to think of the right word. Santana imagined him staring up at the ceiling the way Brittany did when she was thinking. "Spunk."

Santana smiled, she did have 'spunk'.

"I just don't get it." Mrs. Pierce sighed. "What did we do wrong? We did our best raising Brittany."

"We didn't do anything wrong, it's just who she is." Mr. Pierce replied.

Santana continued down the stairs, this wasn't a conversation she was supposed to hear.

"Why would she give up Sam to be with that _girl?_" Santana froze. Mrs. Pierce had said it in a tone that made her stomach turn.

"Her name's Santana, and she makes our daughter happy. Did you see the way she stood up for Brittany tonight?"

"You think I don't want Brittany to be happy?" Mrs. Pierce sounded defensive.

"That's not what I said." She heard the sound of Mr. Pierce laying down in bed. "Look, I don't really get it either, but I like Santana. What's so wrong with Brittany being with a nice girl?"

"The girl part?" Mrs. Pierce stated, as if it were obvious.

Mr. Pierce sighed, he was clearly ready to give up. "Maybe it won't last and she'll end up with a guy, either way she's still our daughter."

Santana turned around and headed back upstairs; she had heard enough. Before getting out of ear's shot she heard Mrs. Pierce speak again. "I love Brittany and I like Santana, but I just don't like this." Now she had definitely heard enough.

She opened the bedroom door to see Brittany sitting in bed with a book in her arms. "Welcome back." Brittany smiled at her girlfriend.

"Thanks." Santana sat on the bed beside the blonde.

"Didn't you leave to get a drink?" Brittany looked confused.

"Oh." Santana looked down at her empty hands. "I changed my mind."

Brittany studied her girlfriend's face. "What's wrong?"

The brunette sighed. "I overheard your parents talking." She turned to Brittany who was listening intently. "I don't think they completely support us B. Maybe your dad, but your mom..." She let the sentence fade and waited for Brittany to respond. "Say something Britt."

Brittany moved closer to Santana and put the book she had been holding into the woman's lap. She opened the cover to reveal photographs. "I danced when I was a kid to help take my mind off of everything but it wasn't my only hobby."

Santana looked at the photographs. There were so many, and they were beautiful. "You took these?" Brittany nodded. "They're gorgeous Britt."

Brittany smiled and pointed to one. "That's a picture of some old sneakers, and you think it's beautiful?"

"Yes." Santana answered sincerely.

"Some people would just look at that and see a picture of some old dirty shoes, and some people see a work of art. Love is like art that way; everyone interprets it differently. Some people will see a picture or a painting and think it's a masterpiece and others will hate it. But in the end, all that really matters is what it means to you." She smiled again and looked up at Santana, who was now staring at her girlfriend, astonished by her genius. "To me we're a masterpiece."

Santana smiled and swallowed, fighting off the tears threatening to fall. "We're a masterpiece to me too."

Brittany leaned in and kissed Santana slowly, wrapping her hand around the back of Santana's neck. She pulled away and locked eyes with the Latina again. "Then that's all that matters."


	7. True Art

**AN: Short chapter but I'm happy with it and I hope you are too! Thank you for the reviews and everything, it means so much!**

**A special thanks to my beta brittanaisendgameforever she's amazing and if you haven't read her stuff all I have to say is... why? You should! **

**Enjoy the fluff and stuff! There's a few key things jammed into this chapter hehe.**

* * *

Santana woke up to the soft gentle sound of Brittany breathing beside her. She smiled to herself. She found herself appreciating the little things in life with Brittany. The sound of her girlfriend's heartbeat, the fact that Brittany always managed to wrap her arm around Santana while they slept, and even the way she referred to Lord Tubbington as their son. There was nowhere she'd rather be. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. The walls were pink and covered in posters.

"Oh right." She sighed quietly. They were still in Philadelphia.

Brittany stirred beside her. "Good mornin' babe." She said in her tired, scratchy voice.

"Good morning." Santana leaned over and kissed Brittany's forehead. "I like when we're laying down and I can do that."

Brittany opened her eyes. "What?"

"Kiss your forehead. When we're standing you're way too tall for me to do that." Santana admitted.

Brittany giggled. "I love the height difference. You're so compact."

"Compact?" Santana glared at her girlfriend.

"Yup." The blonde smiled. "Small but mighty."

Santana thought about it for a second. "I could be down with that definition." She sat up and rolled over so she was now laying on top of Brittany, looking right in her eyes. "What's the plan for today?" Brittany looked down, Santana's chest was pushed up against hers and her girlfriend's top was more than revealing from her angle. She smirked at Santana. "Oh hell no. I'm not doing anything like that in your parents' house."

"Oh?" Brittany frowned and lightly pushed Santana off her. She stood up and started grabbing her clothes.

Santana watched curiously as Brittany gathered their things. "What are you doing?"

"If you won't have sex with me here then we have to go home." She turned to wink at the woman on the bed. Santana laughed and Brittany stopped packing to sit down on the bed. "No but really, I want to go home."

"Is this because of last night?"

Brittany shrugged. "Sort of I guess, but I kind of did what I came to do you know? I told them, now it's up to them what they want to do about it." She turned and grabbed Santana's hands in hers. "I'm done living the life they want. Now I just want to go home and start the life I want; the life with you."

"I want that too Britt." She sat up and kissed Brittany. "Let's go home then."

"Awesome." Brittany stood back up and started packing her things.

Santana finally got out of bed to pack her clothes. She reached down to grab a T-shirt off the floor when she noticed something on the wall. It was a list, written in crayon, and titled _'Goals'_. "What's this?" She asked and pointed to the list.

Brittany walked over and smiled after looking at the piece of paper. "This is a list of goals I made when I was in high school. It's sort of like a bucket list I guess."

Santana looked over the list: Fall in love, propose, get married, have children, be happy, touch a star, ride a unicorn, find what's at the end of a rainbow. She looked at Brittany, who was still smiling and reading the list. "Those are perfect goals Britt."

Brittany walked away and started looking through the drawers of her desk. Once she found what she was looking for, she turned around and held up a blue crayon. She walked over to the list and put a line through 'fall in love' and 'be happy'_. _"There."

Santana smiled at her girlfriend then narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why weren't those already scratched off? I mean, you dated Sam for years and you got engaged to him." Brittany just smirked, shrugged and walked out of the room. Santana eyed the list. "Propose." She read quietly to herself. She carefully pulled the paper off the wall, folded it and put it in her bag.

* * *

Brittany and Santana made their way downstairs after finishing their packing and getting ready. They placed their bags down at the front door and walked towards the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Pierce were relaxing. Santana stopped, assuming Brittany would want a minute to ready herself for the conversation they were about to have, but when Brittany kept walking without hesitation, Santana quickly caught up.

"Hey dad. Hey mom." Brittany stood beside the couch.

"Good morning girls. How'd you sleep?" Mr. Pierce asked while setting down the newspaper.

"Great, thanks." Santana smiled at him. He may not understand their relationship but he tried to and that made her like the man.

"So, Santana and I were thinking we would head out this morning."

"You just got here." Her father sounded worried. Santana glanced at Mrs. Pierce, she hadn't said anything yet and it made Santana fear that she really wasn't going to try.

"I know but Santana has to go back to Los Angeles soon and I want some time at home together before that happens." Brittany looked over at her mother. "We've got everything packed so..."

Mr. Pierce stood up and pulled Brittany into a hug. "I love you baby Bee. Come back soon, don't be a stranger." After hugging Brittany he pulled Santana into an equally loving hug. "Both of you."

Brittany walked over to her mother and kneeled down. "Goodbye mom." Mrs. Pierce stared down at her hands and Brittany waited a few seconds, hoping for some sort of response. She looked over at Santana and her girlfriend gave her a sad smile. She cleared her throat and went to stand up but before she could make it to her feet her mom grabbed her hand.

"I do love you Brittany." Her voice was pleading and her eyes were full of unshed tears.

Brittany nodded. "I know." She kissed her mom on the cheek and stood up. Santana held her hand out, which Brittany graciously accepted. They walked to the front door, picked up their bags and left the house. They made it to the car and half way down the street before Brittany allowed herself to cry.

Santana slid her hand across the center console and laced her fingers between Brittany's. "Sometimes it takes people a while to understand true art."

* * *

The drive had been quiet. Brittany was lost in her thoughts and Santana kept quiet to allow her girlfriend the time she needed. Santana opened the door and held it open for Brittany. "Home sweet home." She announced, hoping to coax a smile from her girlfriend.

Brittany set her bag down and sat on the couch beside Lord Tubbington. "Did you miss your mommies?"

Santana smiled. As much as she was still getting used to having a cat, she loved how happy he made Brittany. "I'm sure he missed you."

"He missed you too."

"How would you know?"

Brittany finally smiled. "Who wouldn't miss you?" Lord Tubbington stretched and jumped off the couch. He walked over to his food dish and started meowing.

Santana rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked to the kitchen and pulled a bag of cat food out from one of the cabinets. "This is why he missed us so much." She poured the food into the dish. "He finished the extra food we left out for him."

Brittany stood up and took the bag from Santana. She shook it and smiled at the lack of kibble. "Looks like we need to go to the pet store."

The brunette laughed. Brittany absolutely loved the pet store. "Looks like it."

"Can we go now?"

"Of course." Maybe a trip to see all the puppies and bunnies would cheer Brittany up a bit.

* * *

They walked into the pet store and Santana's hearing was instantly bombarded with noise. Birds chirped, dogs barked, cats meowed and the overly happy employee greeted them in a frequency that Santana was sure was the cause of the dog barking.

Brittany swiftly made her way through the store until she found the cat food. She started to pick up a bag but Santana stepped in to carry it. "Thank you." Brittany kissed Santana's cheek. "Can we look at the puppies?" Brittany asked hopefully.

Santana nodded. "That's why we're here, right?"

The store had a large area surrounded in glass that was devoted to a play space for the dogs. Customers were allowed to pet the puppies as long as they asked and sanitized their hands, which Brittany did right away. She held the sanitizer out for Santana. The brunette accepted because she knew she would give in when her girlfriend asked her to pet one of them.

"Look at this one San." Brittany had an adorable golden puppy squirming in her arms, trying to wiggle its' way up to her face.

"Cute, but look at that one Britt." Santana laughed and pointed towards a pug puppy that had flipped the water bowl and was now slipping in the mess. "Definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed."

"Santana." Brittany scolded and walked over to pick up the little pug. She held it in her arms and walked over so she was in petting distance of Santana. "They can't help that they're brains are tiny because they have smushy faces."

Santana smiled, holding in a giggle. "You're right Britt." She reached out and pet the puppy. "I'm sorry little guy."

Brittany watched as Santana scratched the dog's head. "We should get a puppy."

Santana scrunched her nose at the thought. "Puppies make messes and they stink. Besides, Tubbs would hate us."

"Yeah, I guess he would." Brittany set the puppy back down and stepped out of the glass room. She waited until they were in a fairly secluded part of the store before asking what was really on her mind. "Do you want kids?"

The bag of cat food slipped from Santana's grip and crashed to the floor. "What?" She quickly picked the bag back up.

"Well, when we went to the awards dinner you said you didn't have the patience for bratty kids and just now you said you didn't like messes and smelliness but kids can be both those things and I just, I want kids someday. Don't you?" The blonde took a breath after her small rant.

"I said I didn't like _bratty_ kids Britt, nobody likes bratty kids. If you know, you and I had a kid, they'd be perfect." Brittany smiled at Santana's certainty. "And nobody likes messes either but that doesn't mean that some things aren't worth it." She smiled at Brittany. "I do want a kid some day and there's nobody else in the world I'd rather raise them with than you."

Brittany was beaming. She leaned over the bag of cat food between them and kissed Santana so hard it almost knocked the Latina over. "Thank you."

Santana nodded and they started walking again. "Someday but like, not someday _soon_. Right?" She glanced at Brittany who didn't respond other than by smirking and quickening her pace. "Right? Brittany!" She called after her girlfriend while trying to keep up.


	8. Castles and Dreams

**AN: Thank you for the notifications. Lots of love to every last one of you! The reviews definitely keep me motivated.**

**What did you think about that wedding? I'm willing to put aside some of the parts I didn't like due to the fact that there was a lot of great Brittana.**

**Of course a special thanks to brittanaisendgameforever (my beta) she's awesome and, if you haven't already, you should check her stuff out.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Brittany slowly ran her finger across Santana's bare stomach, smiling when the sensation made her girlfriend shiver.

"Keep this up and we might have to go for another round." Santana joked.

"You know what the best part about having sex with you is?"

"The fact that you get to have sex with me?" Santana smirked. Brittany stopped gliding her finger and pinched her girlfriend's side playfully, eliciting a shriek from the Latina. "Hey, I was kidding! Sort of."

"The best part is this, the post-sex lady kisses and cuddling." Brittany pulled herself in closer to Santana and rested her head on the woman's chest.

"I don't know if I'd say it's the best part." Santana teased. "But it's up there."

Brittany sighed. "I can hear your heart beating."

"I'd be worried if you couldn't." Santana was a bit confused but she had learned to give Brittany time to explain. The blonde hardly ever said something that wasn't worth saying.

"You have to leave tomorrow and I won't get to hear that sound again until Christmas."

Santana looked down at Brittany and ran her fingers through the soft blonde hair. "You could come with me."

Brittany sat up and looked down at Santana. "We don't have the money San."

"Well…" Santana looked down at her hands. She had been waiting for the right time to bring this up to Brittany, and now she was running out of time. "I was talking to my mom a couple days ago and I told her about everything and she sort of offered to pay for your trip to LA."

"We can't accept that Santana."

"Here's the thing." Santana looked up at Brittany and smiled innocently. "I already did."

"Santana!" Brittany got out of bed and started getting dressed.

"What? Britt, they have the money and she wants to help us. What's the big deal?"

"We can make it on our own San." Brittany crossed her arms.

Even though Brittany was obviously upset, Santana couldn't help but smile. "Of course we can." She stood up and walked over to Brittany, gently grabbing the woman's arms and pulling her towards her. Brittany sighed and wrapped her arms around Santana. "But it's ok to accept some help every once in a while. Just think of it as a late birthday present."

"Your mom already got me that fire extinguisher for my birthday."

"Ok, an early birthday present then." She smiled sweetly at Brittany and flashed the best puppy dog eyes that she could. "Please baby?"

"Fine." Brittany agreed.

"Yes!" Santana cheered and started getting dressed.

"But we should do something nice for them then."

"What?" Santana furrowed her brow.

"Maybe we could host Christmas here so they don't have to do the work." Brittany suggested quietly.

"Hell no! Britt, my family wouldn't even fit in our apartment."

"I was thinking maybe we could have a small Christmas this year." Brittany walked to their dresser and started looking through her makeup. "We could invite your parents here and maybe my parents too."

Santana finished getting dressed and watched her girlfriend mindlessly move things around on the dresser. "Are you sure?"

Brittany turned around to smile at the brunette. "Yes."

Santana smiled back. "Ok let's do it. Now get packing because we have a couple days of pure bliss in LA before Mercedes gets back."

* * *

Brittany stepped out of the taxi and felt the hot sun hit her skin. "It's so nice here San!"

Santana smiled as she grabbed Brittany's bag from the trunk. "Calm down Britt, we haven't even gone to the beach yet." She teased.

They walked up the stairs and made their way into the apartment Santana had been staying at. Brittany looked around and frowned at the lack of decorations. Aside from the furniture there was barely anything in the apartment, not even pictures of them. "This place is nothing like our apartment."

"It's not supposed to be." Santana told her as she carried the bag to her bedroom.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not my home, so it shouldn't feel like it." Santana stated. Brittany could hear that some thought had been put into that conclusion.

She walked over to the window and opened the curtains. The apartment looked over a busy street and she watched as cars drove by, people rode by on bikes, and couples walked by hand in hand. Brittany had always pictured herself in New York but now where she was didn't seem so important. All that mattered was who she was with. She sat on the bed and bounced lightly up and down a few times. "At least the bed is nice." She winked at Santana.

"Very, but it seems kind of small doesn't it?" Santana smirked. She kneeled down on the bed and pushed Brittany lightly until the blonde was lying on the bed with Santana hovering on top of her, faces just inches apart.

Brittany glanced down at her girlfriend's lips. "I think it's just right."

Santana leaned down and kissed Brittany slowly. She glided her tongue along Brittany's lip begging for access, which she was quickly granted. As much as Santana loved this moment, she couldn't stop the ache in her heart caused by the reality that they only had a couple short days before Brittany had to go back to New York, and she would be left alone in Los Angeles. Despite Brittany's attempts to keep their lips locked, Santana pulled away to see her girlfriend looking at her curiously. "I want to show you the studio."

Brittany looked down at their bodies, pushed right up against each other and whimpered. "Now?"

Santana smirked. "Ok, maybe not _right-_" Before Santana could even finish her sentence Brittany had pulled her back down into a kiss.

* * *

Santana opened the door to the studio and flicked the light on. She smiled at her familiar surroundings. "This is it."

"It's smaller than I thought it would be." Brittany pointed out.

"Hey, it's bigger than your office." Santana teased.

Brittany hummed in thought. "That may be true but this isn't really your _office."_

Santana smirked. "So this is the studio but there are a few recording booths connected to this studio." She pointed to three different windows, all covered with blinds.

Brittany walked over to one and tried to peak through the blinds. "Can we go inside?"

Santana walked to one of the doors and turned around. "Of course." She opened the door and gestured for Brittany to enter. The blonde walked into the small recording booth and was met with four blank walls. In the room was a mic, a table and a couple stools. Brittany walked closer to the table to see it covered in pictures of her, Santana and their friends. She turned to see her girlfriend smiling at her. "I'm the only one that uses this booth so Mercedes said I could leave pictures and stuff in here."

"That explains why there's none in your apartment."

Santana pulled a stool so it was right in front of the mic. "Here, sit." Brittany sat at the stool and faced the mic. Santana stood behind her. "This is exactly where I sit, or stand, to record. Notice anything?"

Brittany looked at the wall. Beside the window there was a picture; a picture of her and Santana. She smiled. "Us."

Santana smiled too and wrapped her arms about Brittany, resting her chin lightly on her girlfriend's shoulder. "I spend a lot of time in this room and even though I work with people it can get lonely because I'm not with the one person I truly want to be with. When I first got here I wanted to stop. I wanted to go home and be with you because I couldn't handle being away." Brittany turned around in her seat to face Santana. "So I put that picture where I would see it the most to remind me why I'm here and to give me inspiration."

Brittany watched as Santana looked around the room. It was small and bleak but that didn't stop the brunette's eyes from glowing. "You really like it here." She said in a quiet, small voice.

Santana nodded. "Yeah." She smiled and started fiddling with the microphone. "This is my dream after all, right?" She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned back to her girlfriend. "But it's nothing like New York. Nothing like home."

Brittany shrugged and walked over to Santana. "Home is where your heart is."

* * *

Santana glanced at the clock. "Come on Britt what's taking so long? I wants ta get my tan on."

Brittany walked into the room and held out a bottle of sunscreen. "Can you get my back?"

Santana took the bottle, squeezed a bit into her hand and quickly rubbed it into her girlfriend's back. "There."

"That's it? If I burn I'm blaming you and then you'll have to rub aloe on me." Brittany watched Santana pick up their beach towels. "What's the hurry it's not like it's your first time going to the beach."

"Actually, I haven't been to the beach since I got here."

"Seriously? You live within walking distance of the beach and you haven't gone at all?"

Santana shrugged. "I don't have a lot of free time."

"Well then let's go! What are we doing standing around?" Brittany smirked at her girlfriend and was met with a playful glare.

The walk to the beach was short and sweet and it wasn't long before the two were lying on their towels beside each other.

Brittany sat up and looked around the beach. She spotted a boy that had been playing with sand toys but stopped. She leaned over so she was looking down, right above Santana. "Hey Sanny?" She said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

Santana smiled. "What do you want Britty?"

"Would you build a sand castle with me if I asked that little boy if we could borrow his toys?"

Santana pulled her sunglasses down a bit. "Are you kidding or...?"

"No." She frowned.

"Britt if you walk up to that kid and ask for his toys, I'm not bailing you out when his mom calls the cops."

"Such little faith." Brittany lightly poked Santana's nose and stood up. She sat up and watched as Brittany walked over to the boy. "That's a really neat sand castle you built."

The boy looked up at Brittany and smiled. "Thanks! It was lots of work but I build a lot of castles so I know how to do it."

She bent down and pointed towards Santana. "You see that girl over there?" The boy nodded. "I'm playing at the beach with her but we don't have any toys. Could you ask your mom if we could borrow yours? I promise we'll take really good care of them."

The boy looked at his toys. "Do you know how to build a sand castle?"

"Hm... I think so, but my friend probably doesn't. Could you help us?"

The boy quickly stood up. "Yes!" He ran over to his mom who was busy writing something. Brittany waved when the woman looked at her, then to Santana. She watched as the woman whispered something to her son. The boy ran back down the beach to Brittany. "We can play but I have to stay here."

"Perfect!" She waved for Santana to join them.

"No way..." Santana stood up and walked over. She sat down between Brittany and the little boy. "So a sand castle huh?"

The boy nodded quickly and stuck his hand out. "I'm Spencer."

Santana shook his hand. "Hi Spencer. I'm Santana and this is Brittany."

The boy picked up a bucket and started to fill it. "I'm going to teach you how to make a castle."

Brittany picked up the piece to make the walls and started filling it. Santana looked at her and the blonde nodded towards Spencer. Santana shook her head but when Brittany frowned at her, she sighed and picked up a shovel. She started filling the bucket with the boy, who didn't stop smiling the whole time.

It didn't take long before the castle was almost complete. Santana had offered to find shells to decorate it as Brittany and Spencer finished the last section.

"Spencer, it's time to go buddy." They looked over to see the boy's mother packed up and ready to leave.

"Do we have to? It's almost done." He called back to her.

"Sorry Spence, we have some running around to do still." She walked over and started gathering his beach toys. Brittany handed her one of the buckets and the woman smiled. "Thanks. His friend was supposed to come with us today but he couldn't make it and I had some work I had to get done. You two saved the day."

"It was our pleasure, really." She smiled at the woman then looked to Spencer. "Thank you for showing Santana how to make a sand castle. Now she'll know for the next time we come to the beach."

The boy smiled. "It'll be as good as ours."

"Oh I don't know about that. This castle is pretty awesome."

As Spencer and his mother were walking away Santana came back. "He's gone?"

Brittany smiled at her girlfriend. "Yeah, he had to go."

Santana frowned. She kneeled down and dropped the shells she had collected. "Well, we can't let these go to waste." She picked some up and started decorating the castle.

Brittany picked up a shell but stopped to watch her girlfriend. "You had fun today didn't you?"

Santana placed another shell on the castle. "Yes." She glanced over at Brittany's beaming smile. "It was the perfect day babe."

Brittany looked around them. "This is a pretty great city." Santana nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should move here someday."

The brunette stopped what she was doing and looked at Brittany. "But you love New York."

Brittany shrugged. "New York's great but I love _you _Santana and if being in LA is the best thing for your career then we should do it. I can teach dance anywhere."

Santana nodded slowly. "This isn't a decision we can make overnight Britt."

"Why not?"

"We have friends we would be leaving in New York."

"I love our friends but it's not like we would never see them. We have to do what's best for us." Brittany countered.

Santana looked down at the sand castle. "I do love it here."

Brittany leaned over and kissed Santana's temple. "You're right, we don't have to decide now. I just want you to know that if you want to live here, then I want to live here."

Santana looked at Brittany and smiled. This woman was amazing. "Thank you B."

* * *

The two spent the rest of the time on the beach relaxing and enjoying each other's company. The sun was starting to set and they were sitting on the beach still, Santana wrapped in Brittany's arms. Brittany tightened her grip around Santana and the Latina sighed contentedly at the embrace.

"Hey Britt?"

"Mhm?" The blonde rested her temple on the top of Santana's head.

"You know that bucket list thing you made in high school?" Santana asked and waited until she felt her girlfriend nod. "Number two was propose, not get engaged." Brittany nodded again. "Why's that?"

"I've always wanted to be the one to propose. I guess I want to feel the excitement and anticipation of waiting for the response. Plus I have an irrational fear of someone I don't love asking me to marry them. I have this idea of the perfect proposal in my head. It would be sweet and personal, like it wouldn't be in public or anything. Just me and the person I'm meant to be with forever."

Santana contemplated her next question. Part of her didn't want to know but a larger part was curious. "Sam proposed?" Again she felt Brittany nod. "How did he do it?"

"It was almost exactly how I described."

"Almost?"

"It was sweet, personal and it was just him and I." She smiled. "But he isn't the one I'm meant to be with forever."

* * *

**AN: We're getting really close to the end guys... thank you all. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.**


	9. Can't Put Restrictions on Love

**AN: Well this is it... the final chapter!**

**I hope you all enjoyed this story because I loved writing it. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Much love as always. Also, thank you to my beta brittanaisendgameforever and of course check out her stuff.**

**I am currently working on another story (with a lot of help from my beta) that I'm super excited about! I don't know when it will be posted but hopefully sometime soon. It's going to take place in a dystopian society but that's all I'll say for now.**

**That's it I guess... thank you again and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Saying goodbye to Santana in Los Angeles was one of the hardest things Brittany had ever had to do. The days she had spent there with her girlfriend were perfect. They went to the beach, shopping, watched TV, but the best times were spent just lounging around Santana's apartment together. Brittany was so tempted to stay that she had to keep reminding herself that work provided money and money provided her and Santana with a home, so she found herself walking up the stairs to her apartment.

She opened the door and looked around the room. If leaving Santana was hard, walking into an empty apartment was ten times harder. The emptiness and stillness was a reminder that she was miles away from the love of her life.

She put her bag down beside the door. "Lord T, mommy's home." She called through the apartment and waited until she heard the sound of him scurrying into the room. He jumped up onto the couch and looked at her. She walked over and scratched behind his ear. "It's just you and I again Tubbs. Momma won't be home for a while." He started to purr and Brittany found herself smiling. When her phone started to ring she quickly pulled it out to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey Britt, are you home yet?" It was Quinn.

"Yeah, I just got in. What's up?"

"Well first of all, how was the trip?" Quinn's voice sounded as though she was implying something.

"It was great. She showed me the studio and we went to the beach but most of the time we just hung out at her apartment." Brittany looked around the room at the pictures on the walls, the plants they always forgot to water, and the burn marks on the floor from when Brittany lit a sparkler inside. Despite the memories, it didn't feel right. "I miss her apartment."

"It must be an awfully nice apartment for you to miss it so much." Quinn teased.

"Ok, so maybe it's not the apartment I miss."

"Right." Quinn agreed. "Hey so tomorrow I'm going out for lunch with some people. You want to come?"

"Some people?"

"Yeah like Rachel-"

"Of course." Brittany interrupted.

"And some others." Quinn finished, ignoring the interruption.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that Q."

"Ok well, only one more person really." Quinn was stalling for time but Brittany was a patient person. "They might not even show up but just in case they do I guess I should warn you."

Brittany rolled her eyes; she knew who Quinn was talking about. "Quinn, I'd love to go to lunch with you Rachel and Sam."

"Really?" Quinn was surprised by Brittany's instant agreement.

"Yes." She sat down beside Lord Tubbington, who had now laid down, and continued to pet him. "I'm hoping he's given up but even if he hasn't, he can't hurt Santana and I anymore. Nothing he could say or do could ruin what we have."

Quinn's phone buzzed, telling her she has a call waiting. "Ok, great. We're meeting at the diner around noon. I have to go though, I've got another call. Talk to you later B."

* * *

Santana sat on the couch, leg bouncing up and down rapidly, waiting nervously for the person on the other end of the line to answer. "What a coincidence." She heard Quinn laugh.

Santana furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"I was just talking to Britt, that's all."

"Oh." She stood up and started pacing back and fourth through the room. "How is she?"

"Didn't you two just see each other?"

"Just answer the damn question Fabray."

"She's fine. She seemed a bit down but I asked her to go for lunch with me tomorrow, so maybe she'll cheer up."

"Ok, that's good."

Quinn waited for the conversation to go somewhere, but it didn't. "So, why did you call?"

"Oh right." Santana stopped pacing and stared out the window. "I might do something crazy and I need you to talk me out of it."

"Well, what is it that you might do?"

"Propose."

"What?"

"Propose to Brittany." Santana waited for Quinn to tell her she was crazy. She waited for her friend to tell her it was too fast, that they should wait.

"Why do you want me to talk you out of it?"

The brunette sat back down on the couch; that was not the response she was expecting. "Because it's crazy."

"Why is it crazy?"

"Because we haven't even been together for a year yet."

"Is there some sort of time requirement I'm not aware of?" Quinn asked. Santana didn't answer so she continued. "I thought the only requirement to get engaged was love. You and Brittany love each other more than I've ever seen in a couple. You fit together so perfectly that it makes me extremely happy and jealous at the same time. You can't put restrictions on love Santana."

Santana stayed quiet, thinking about what Quinn had said. She did love Brittany more than anything, and she could tell Brittany loved her just the same. There was nobody else she could even imagine spending the rest of her life with. She smiled. "You're a pretty good friend Quinn."

"You're not too bad yourself." Quinn smiled at the sound of a small laugh from Santana. "One question though, how are you going to afford a ring?"

"I have more than enough money saved for exactly this reason. I was almost going to spend some of it so Britt could visit me here in LA but thankfully my mom paid for her trip."

"Good. Hey, I've got to go but just one more thing." Quinn was smirking and Santana could hear it in her voice.

"What?" The brunette asked cautiously.

"I better be a maid of honour."

Santana smiled. "I think that could be arranged."

* * *

Brittany confidently walked into the diner and greeted everyone at the table. She sat down next to Rachel.

"How was your trip?" The brunette asked.

"Not long enough." Brittany replied truthfully.

"Did you like Los Angeles?"

Brittany looked at Rachel then to Quinn. She decided it would be ok for her to tell them about the discussion she and Santana had. "I did, and Santana loves it there. So much that we're thinking about moving there."

"What, when?" Quinn asked hastily.

"I'm not sure." Brittany told her and watched as Quinn frowned down at the table. "It isn't for sure."

"I think it's great." She turned to see Rachel beaming at her. "Of course I'll miss you guys but if that's what you want then I'm happy for you."

"Soon nobody will be left in New York." Sam stated with a small laugh. Brittany looked at him curiously. "I'm going to LA too."

Brittany smirked. "Does with have anything to do with Mercedes?"

He shrugged. "We've gone out a few times and she's really cool. I want to give us a chance and it can't happen if I'm here. Besides, it's not like I'm leaving much of a life behind in New York."

Rachel gasped and put her hand to her chest. "We're here." She pointed between her and Quinn.

He laughed. "Don't worry, I'll come to visit."

Despite everything, Brittany couldn't help but smile at the thought of having Sam in Los Angeles. She leaned in closer to him. "We could totally go on double dates."

Quinn scoffed. "Ugh, stop being so in love. Couples…" She rolled her eyes.

"Aw Quinn, you'll always have me." Rachel told her with a bright smile. Brittany couldn't keep herself from snickering, earning a glare from Quinn.

Their lunch was filled with friendly small chat and banter and when the bills came Quinn quickly grabbed them all and offered to pay. Rachel went up to the bar with her, leaving Brittany and Sam alone at the table.

Brittany watched as Sam folded a napkin into a tiny square. "I like this."

He looked up at her. "Like what?"

"That we can be friends."

He gave her a sad smile. "Me too Britt." His voice was quiet and at first Brittany thought he wasn't over losing her still, but that wasn't it.

She reached over and put her hand on his arm. "I forgive you Sam. So does Santana."

He looked down at her hand. "I know, but it's going to take some time for me to forgive myself."

She nodded slowly. "You know, for a while when I first started seeing Santana I felt guilty. I felt like I was betraying you and I almost let that guilt ruin what I have with her. I don't want to see you do the same thing." He looked up at the blonde. "Everything between us is in the past. Now get over it." She winked at him playfully and he finally gave her a real smile.

"Thanks Britt."

They heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see Quinn and Rachel looking down at Brittany's hand, which was still on Sam's arm. "Are we interrupting?" Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow towards Brittany.

Sam stood up. "Nope, we're good."

Brittany nodded in agreement. "Everything's good now."

* * *

It had been three weeks since Brittany left Los Angeles and apparently time didn't heal all wounds because she was still missing Santana immensely. They texted as much as they could during the day and they Skyped every night but none of that could make up for not being able to feel Santana next to her in bed.

Brittany was on her way home from a particularly bad day at work. One of her students had told their mother, in passing, that Brittany was with another girl. The mother apparently didn't agree with such things and withdrew the student from Brittany's class. She tried to tell herself not to let it bother her, things like this happen. But as much as her relationship with Santana was completely worth it all, it still stung a bit.

She opened the front door of her apartment building, checked the mail box then started heading up the stairs. Before she even made it to the first step she noticed a red piece of paper taped to the railing. She picked it up and read it. "For the first time we met." She furrowed her brow in confusion but then noticed an arrow that read 'turn over'. She turned the paper around to see a picture of some shrimp. She laughed remembering how Santana had ordered her a shrimp dish from the diner that had been removed from the menu. Then she stopped. What was this note even doing here?

She continued further up the stairs and found another note. This one was orange. "For our first date." On the back was a picture of Central Park where they had their first date that wound up becoming a snowball fight.

As she went up the stairs she kept finding notes. The third one was yellow. "For our first present." It was a picture of the painting of night time New York that was still hanging in their bedroom.

The fourth was green. "For our first kiss." There was a picture of their living room, which at the time was her and Quinn's.

The fifth was blue. "For our first fight." She turned it over to see "Happy New Year's" written with the word happy scratched out and a sad face beside it. She frowned as she remember the fight that almost ended their relationship.

The sixth was sort of a blueish purple. She laughed; indigo. "For our first promise." On the back was a picture of the infinity heart necklace Santana had given her for Christmas.

As she made it to the front door of their apartment she looked around for the last note but there was nothing to be found. Confused, she opened the door. When she walked in she found herself surrounded in stars. The lights in the apartment were all off and the room was being lit by a projection of stars all over the walls and ceiling. She looked around in awe, it was beautiful, but stopped when her eyes fell on something even more stunning; Santana.

"On your bucket list you said you wanted to touch a star. Now you can touch a bunch." Santana gestured around the room with a smile.

Brittany ran over and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "I missed you so much! What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you but shouldn't you be in LA?"

"Woah hold on." Santana backed away slightly and held out the final note. It was violet.

Brittany took the note from her girlfriend and read it out loud. "For our lives together." She turned it over but nothing was on the back. She looked up at the brunette and gave her a confused head tilt.

Santana smiled at Brittany's adorable gesture. "On your bucket list you said you wanted to know what was at the end of a rainbow. Well, we are." She shrugged.

"This was beautiful Santana." Brittany smiled at tried to pull her girlfriend in for a kiss but Santana put her hands up, stopping the blonde in her tracks.

"There's more, and if I don't do this now I might panic and forget it all so…" She turned around and pulled something out from a drawer but kept it out of sight as she turned back to Brittany. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Brittany said quietly.

Santana nodded and continued. "When we met you were having a lot of trouble moving on from Sam and everyone, including you, seems to think I somehow saved you but the truth is that we saved each other. You always say I gave you a reason to move on but Britt, you gave me a reason to love again. And I don't want to go another day without showing you what that really means to me; what you really mean to me." She held her hand out, revealing a ring. Brittany gasped and tears started to form in her eyes. "Number two on your list was propose so, Brittany S. Pierce… will you ask me to marry you?"

Brittany couldn't fight the tears that fell as she giggled and nodded, quickly taking the ring from Santana. She gestured for Santana to sit on the couch, which she did, then got down on one knee in front of her girlfriend. "Santana, you are the most important thing that's ever come into my life. When I saw you for the first time in the diner I felt like I could finally breathe again and I hadn't even talked to you yet. Now, every time I see you my breath catches and I can't breathe but for completely amazing reasons I promise." She smiled bigger than Santana had ever seen as Santana giggled at her girlfriend's awkward way with words. "There's nobody in this world I would rather spend my life with. Santana Lopez, will you marry me?"

Santana nodded hastily. "Of course." She told the blonde, through tears.

Brittany slipped the ring on Santana's finger and pulled her fiancé into a passionate, slow kiss. Her fingers ran over Santana's and stopped at the ring. She smiled at the feel of it. "It's perfect."

"Don't worry." Santana leaned over and reached back into the drawer, pulling out an equally beautiful ring. "I have two."

Brittany laughed as Santana slipped the second engagement ring onto her hand. "You almost completed my whole bucket list. Just the unicorn is missing." She joked.

"Oh, right." Santana stood up and ran down the hall, leaving Brittany wondering. She walked back into the room with Lord Tubbington in her arms.

Brittany looked up to see that the cat had a pink and silver unicorn horn on the top of his head. She burst out laughing. "I can't believe you did that San."

Santana walked over and kneeled down on the floor beside Brittany. "Well, I couldn't do the whole proposal thing without involving our son."

Brittany smiled and pulled out her phone. She moved over so she was pressed up against Santana and held the phone out in front of them. She grabbed Santana's left hand and held it out so it was in front of the camera. As she took a picture of the three of them, she planted a kiss on her fiancé's cheek. "There."

"Really Britt, a selfie?" She teased.

"I'm going to send it to Quinn. She has to know."

"She already does." Santana looked at the picture. "It's like a family portrait."

Brittany shook her head. "It's much more than that." She turned and smiled at Santana. "It's a masterpiece."


	10. Epilogue

**AN: This is it! The epilogue... I hope you all enjoy and thank you again for everything. **

**I'm planning out a third part to this but it won't happen for a while. Until then, I am working on a new fic called _A Perfect Defect_ (which I'm posting the beginning of tonight!) so please check that out if you get the chance. **

**As always, thank you to my amazing beta brittanaisendgameforever! She's amazing and my fics would not be what they are without her help.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Brittany looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing an Adventure Time shirt and polka dotted pajama shorts. She smiled at her reflection. "You're beautiful as always Mrs. Lopez-Pierce."

She looked over her reflection's shoulder to see Santana leaning against the door frame, holding two glasses of champagne. She turned around and accepted the glass Santana held out to her.

Santana leaned in and kissed Brittany slowly, causing the blonde to moan in appreciation. "I still think we should have changed it completely and gone with Lopierce."

The brunette laughed. "I'll do that the day that Rach and Quinn get married and become Faberry."

Brittany laughed along with her wife. Santana held her glass up to toast to them and Brittany raised hers but stopped when she caught sight of the ring on Santana's left hand. She couldn't help but admire it. It was a reminder of everything they had been through, everything they had faced and overcome, together. She smiled at her wife. "To us?"

Santana nodded. "And to our future together." The clinked their glasses and sipped their champagne. As soon as they finished Santana grabbed Brittany's glass from her hand and put them both down on the dresser.

Brittany glared at her wife. "I wasn't done with that."

Santana shushed the blonde and Brittany giggled as the Latina slowly pushed her backwards towards the bed. Brittany fell onto the mattress and Santana made her way on top of her, kissing up her collar bone to her neck. "I think it's time," Santana told Brittany in between kisses, "we consummate this marriage."

Brittany pushed Santana back and away from her neck. "Oh really?" Santana nodded quickly and tried to go back to kissing but was stopped by Brittany's hand. "I want to have a kid."

Santana huffed. "That's what I'm working on." She waggled her eyebrows at her wife.

The blonde laughed. "That's not how it works San."

"Let me have my moment." Santana pouted.

Brittany leaned forward and kissed the pout away. "I want to have a kid Santana."

The tone of her voice let Santana know she was serious and that she wanted to have this conversation now, which Santana did not understand because all she wanted to do was rip Brittany's clothes off. "I do too but, we literally just got married. We still have a wedding to pay off."

"We have more than enough money with your album sales, you know that." Brittany argued. Santana bit her lower lip in contemplation. "What are you worried about?"

The brunette looked into her wife's blue eyes. They always seemed to comfort her no matter how she was feeling. "I'm scared I won't be a good mom. I'm not the most loving person in the world and I'm awkward around small living creatures. I still can't pick up Lord T without him looking at you like he needs to be saved."

Brittany started to laugh and Santana frowned at the reaction. "Sorry." She tried to stop herself from giggling. "But you just called our future baby a 'small living creature'."

Santana sighed. "You know what I meant."

The blonde nodded. "I do. San, the fact that you're worried about that is a good thing. Almost everybody is scared to be a parent and those who aren't are the ones that aren't ready because they don't realize how hard it'll be."

"I guess…"

"We love each other. We have a stable life together and the only thing missing from this family portrait is a little mini Lopierce."

Santana laughed. "You're not going to drop that name thing are you?"

"Nope." Brittany smiled and kissed her wife again. "You will be a fantastic mom Santana because you have the biggest heart ever. You think you aren't loving because you don't care about every person you meet but that's not true. It just means that when you open up and love someone, it's so much more important." Brittany sighed. "When you're gone on tours and stuff I'll be left alone. I want to have a part of you here with me."

"My North American tour is over B and I'm not leaving again for over a year."

"Exactly! That leaves us just enough time to have a baby. Then the whole time you're gone I can send you adorable selfies of me and our son or daughter."

Santana smiled down at her wife. "You are a genius Mrs. Lopierce."

Brittany smirked. "What did you call me?"

Santana leaned further down so she was hovering just over Brittany's ear. "Mrs. Lopierce." She whispered slowly.

Brittany flipped Santana over and rolled so she was on top of the brunette. She started taking her shirt off. "Ok, time to consummate this marriage already."

Santana watched Brittany throw her shirt away and admired her wife's body. "You're a real piece of art babe." She winked at Brittany.

Brittany smiled and pointed between them. "You know what happens when two masterpiece's come together to create something new?" Santana shook her head. "Me neither, but I'm totally ready to find out."


	11. Note about the sequel!

**A quick update to let everyone know that the third part of the trilogy has been started!**

**Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed my stories so far, it means everything to me and without all of you I probably wouldn't continue writing.**

**I apologize that updates have been few and far between but life gets in the way sometimes. They will happen, I promise. Starting with the new story: ****_There's Always Tomorrow._**


End file.
